The Country's Economy is in a Shamble

Malaysia was regarded once as a land of milk and honey.  But, it is now in a state of shamble.  The situation does not happen just now.  The rot has in fact been going on ever since the affirmative National Economic Policy (NEP) was put into operation in 1970 following the racial riot that took place on May 13, 1969.

The NEP was mooted by the National Consultative Council, NEC, comprising in the main appointees of the Alliance Government.  The NEC was in fact the de facto governing body of the country during the period when parliament was suspended.  It was more of a pseudo- or semi-military rule.

The said policy was aimed at:

1)  Eradicating poverty; and.

2)  Eliminate identification of race with occupation of the people.

The Policy was noble but the implemenation was very much slanted to favour one particular race, the Bumiputra - that is, the prince of the land which in particular include the Malays and the indigenous people of Malaysia.  The backwardness of the Malays and Bumiputra was taken as an excuse for the slanted implementation of the NEP.

In an effort to help bring about changes to the status of the bumiputras, various untoward policies were formulated to the exclusion of the non-bumiputras which comprise all the Chinese, Indians and Eurasians etc who are in fact citizens of the country.  This latter group constitutes then about 40% of the national population.  This percentage was reduced through induced conversion and recruitment and nauralisation of foreign muslim workers from neighbourly countries.  Foreign workers have been reported to exceed more than 10% of the country's population of  28 million.

Consistent with the NEP, many racially and socio-economic policies were put in place to "elevate or lift" the status of the Bumiputras.  As such, on the corporate front, 30% of the equity  shall be reserved and allotted for the Bumiputras.  So is employment which must reflect 30% Bumiputras. 

Employment in the civil service was most noticeable - for many years majority of Malays and or Bumiputras were taken into the civil service; promotion of non-bumiputras was held in abeyance such that eventually all top positions were replaced and helmed by Malays and or Bumiputras.  Entry into universities for non-Bumiputras was strictly monitored; as a result, thousands who were qualified were not admitted into courses of their choices such as medicine, engineering, accountancy and law in the public universities.

Scholarships were rarely awarded to the non-Bumiputras.  A serious constraint was and still is the pre-condition that the scholarship applicant must first secure a place in the university before his application is considered.  If at all, they are offered scholarships, they must be the straight A students

On the governance side, the Barisan Nasional have been ruling the country since attaining independence of Malaya  in 1957 and formation of Malaysia in 1963.  But little did the masses realise or know that over the years - more than half a century - the BN Government had been resorting to and engaged in a lot of undersirable actions to stay in power.  Money politics, vote-purchasing and gerry-mandering were blatantly perpetrated in the last two General Elections by BN Government to stay in power.

Power somehow has tended to the point of obsessive avarice.  Billions had been siphoned out of the country during the past 15 years as reported by the GFI.  The figure was staggering and mind-boggling.  It exceeded USD1.30 trillion.  Translated into local currency, money laundered approximated to slightly more than RM100.0 billion per annum.  For a small economy like Malaysia, this huge sum of money if ploughed backed into the country for socio-economic development would have benefitted very significantly the people of Malaysia.

If the political leaders really had the interest and welfare of the people at heart, Malaysia would be like Singapore - an educated populace,  high averaged income, a strong,  clean and stable economy, with a strong currency, modern infra-structural amenities, unity and racial harmony among the multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society.  At the time of writing, the Malaysian Rinnggit has depreciated to almost RM2.80 to a SD1.00 and RM4.10 to a USD1.00.

In Singapore, corruption is strictly prohibited and anyone caught committing such an offence will be severely dealt with regardless of the background of the perpetrator.

Corruption is prevalent in Malaysia.  It pervades all sectors and levels of the society so much that it has almost become a way of life.  Politicians and prospective politicians are attracted to politics for this very reason; that is, to enrich themselves fast through graft and even fraudulent means.

A case in point is the recent revelation of the wheel and deal of the State Sovereign Company, infamously known and referred to as 1 MDB which will be the subject of the next post.