Disquiet - The Politics of Race

IT is abundantly clear that the politics of race has slowly and surely brought this country to the brink of disaster.

We are a nation divided, kept from strength by divisive policies that constantly remind us of our differences rather than our similarities and, in doing so, breeds distrust and weakness. We have been reduced to nothing more than representatives of our different ethnic communities. Instead of being husband, father, wife, mother, child, lawyer, artist, accountant, doctor or public intellectual, we are instead Malay, Chinese, Indian or Other, the value we can each add to this society limited by the box that keeps us in our respective categories.

Though this may serve political interests, 'divide and rule' having always been a useful strategy for ensuring dominion, it does not serve our interests and those of the nation.

The New Economic Policy (NEP) was intended to address disparities in income levels between the primary ethnic groups even as it addressed poverty across the board. I believe that over the years political interests had gradually hijacked the policy, so much so that Ketuanan Melayu has come to define the social contract for some, while others believe that affirmative action is a permanent privilege of birth notwithstanding the policy having led to the enrichment of a small elite at the expense of the wider community and the nation.

Accepting that this is a contentious issue, consider instead where race based policies have left the nation and the Malay community respectively.

Where public education is concerned, though the policy has allowed for greater Malay student intake into institutions of learning at all levels, admission quotas and declining standards in a mass assembly style education system have led to the production of graduates, Malays and non-Malays alike, who are simply not good or confident enough to do what it takes or sufficiently experienced to deal with multi-racial existence.

This has been influenced to an extent by political objectives that have suborned quality to quantity and, in having permitted race based appointments of educators, subjected the education system to a cycle that undermines it.

Seeing as how local graduates, diploma holders or school leavers form the bulk of the work force, in part due to more young Malaysians choosing not to return home after completing their studies abroad because they do not believe they can achieve the quality of life they aspire to here, this cannot be a good thing.

It is no secret that the country faces a major human resource shortage.This has had serious implications.

One of the more evident knock-on effects is the impact it has had on the civil service. It is an open secret that race has played a big role, and continues to do so, in appointments and promotions, having resulted in a civil service made up almost entirely of Malays, graduates of local universities and schools in the main. In time, it has come to be dominated by persons who are not sufficiently equipped with the skill, knowledge and experience to do what they have to, unlike their predecessors.

The same can also be said of public institutions such as judiciary. appointments to the bench have largely been from the Attorney- General's Chambers or the judicial services and in this way the civil service experience, such as it is, has found its way onto the bench.

In all of this and more, race has figured very prominently, even though it should not have. It is not insignificant. Of the 10 Federal Court judges currently serving, eight are Malays, as are 15 of the 20 serving Court of Appeal judges and 33 of the serving High Court judges, the overwhelming majority of them having been appointed from the civil service.

This raises important questions. Though affirmative action may be a relevant consideration for us, what is the cost we will have to pay for it? Do we have to sacrifice our competitiveness and sustainability? I think not. There are ways in which the poor and the disadvantaged, Malays and non-Malays alike, can be assisted without having to sacrifice the competitiveness of the nation or the individual Malaysian's right to be the best he or she can be. Creating the methods by which this can be done requires maturity, what this country needs in the long run and, above all, a jettisoning of political interests.

Sadly, it would seem that the government has been incapable of this. Take the judiciary for instance.

The prime minister has publicly admitted that we may not have the best persons for the job on the bench. It also appears as if race quotas have been imposed on appointments.
How is it that that could have been permitted? The judiciary is a crucial institution, a cornerstone of democracy that requires the best minds to function as it was meant to. Leave aside the fact that the Constitution does not authorise such quotas for the judiciary, that justice can be served by reference to ethnic considerations defies logic and common sense. Justice is blind to all considerations, race and religion included.

That the government was prepared to allow the judiciary to be subverted in this way is indication enough of how it is that other aspects of governance have been approached, especially those essential to the functioning of the pluralist democracy that Malaysia is.

It is hardly surprising then that race relations has taken on an edge that it never had before.


Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

The Economic Conundrum

If one were to consider the stock and bond markets in Malaysia, one might be forced to conclude that the Malaysian economy is in deep trouble.

Actually, that is not the case, well, at least not yet. Despite higher prices, consumer spending — one of the biggest drivers of the economy over the last five years — remains reasonably robust, growing at between 8 and 12 per cent year on year.

Unlike its Western counterparts, the banking system is still sound with non-performing loans continuing to trend downwards — six-month NPLs are around 3 per cent of total loans. And bank lending which bottomed out in 2000 is growing pretty decently — at close to 15 per cent last year.

The bad news is that inflation is expected to hit a record 6 per cent or more this year. And employment in the manufacturing sector has been dropping since late 2006. That is a dangerous sign as manufacturing employs the largest number of Malaysians.

Having said that, Malaysia is still a lucky country for it is blessed with resources such as oil and commodities such as rubber, palm oil and gold, all of which are shooting through the roof price-wise. This has made smallholders in the rural areas relatively wealthy in these troubled times.
The ones that are really hurting are the lower middle-class urbanites(who make up a third of the country) who are struggling to make ends meet. Buffeted by higher fuel costs and let down by inefficient public transport, they find themselves being treated unfairly by a dearth of governance amid what seems like political paralysis.

All things fall apart if the centre does not hold. The administration of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must get its act together because the country is not yet in deep economic trouble. But it could be if the government continues dithering and instituting policies that aren't thought through.

The recent announcement of a windfall tax on independent power producers (IPPs) is one example. Such a tax is fine but it has to be properly constructed. In this case, it is levied without taking borrowings — a huge figure compared to equity where IPPs are concerned — into account.

That is madness for it will undermine the bond markets because paper issued by the (Association of) IPPs constitute almost 20 per cent of the total corporate market. That, in the nature of a vicious circle, will have knock-on effects on the Employees Provident Fund, probably the single largest holder of bonds, and the banks which not only issue the bonds but hold them as well.

These kind of policies do not inspire much confidence in the government. The windfall tax must be modified to reflect reality and the government must do it fast to show that it does listen to the business community.

Having said that, the Opposition must also do its part to reduce political tension in Malaysia, of which there is already an overachiever's share in circulation. The results of the March 8 general election could portend the evolution of a two-party system in Malaysia, but so far its beginnings haven't been very salutary.

Going by various surveys, it is clear that Malaysians are sick and tired of the fractious politicking being exhibited by their lawmakers of all political stripes. It is time to step back; it may even be a time for conciliation. In fact, if the Opposition shows that it can be bipartisan, it may even have a great future.