By Mariam Mokhtar

If you are able to control the Malay mind, you have discovered a gold mine. That is how politics has been structured in Malaysia, to lead the Malay by his emotion, rather than his intellect.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the economy, Mustapa Mohamed, wants Malaysians to help revitalise the Coronavirus-hit economy.

First. The most immediate proposal is simple. Mustapa, his boss, Muhyiddin Yassin, and his peers should resign.

Second. The short term solution, is to downsize the Cabinet and tap into the GLCs to assist low paid workers.

Third. The long-term solution is to get rid of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

All these recommendations will not go down well with Mustapa and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.

It has been said that timing is everything and Muhyiddin must regret his timing for the power grab.

Did Muhyiddin and his co-conspirators forget that the world was going through an uncertain phase? There was the trade war between America and the People's Republic of China (PRC). There was the drop in oil prices, and the looming world economic recession. Climate change was causing havoc around the world, with storms, floods and other natural disasters.

When Pakatan Harapan took over after GE-14, the nation was RM1 trillion in debt. Perhaps, Muhyiddin thought that a Malay government, with a few token non-Malays, would be the saviour of Malaysia and the  administration of the country would be a breeze.

For a start, PN underestimated the threat from Coronavirus. They may have assumed that the disease could be cured like the common cold, with two aspirins, bed-rest and plenty of fluids.

Last week's prescription, given by the Minister of Health, that warm water was a possible remedy for Coronavirus, dented our confidence in his ability to helm the Ministry of Health.

With the nation fearful of Coronavirus, Mustapa invited the rakyat to suggest ways to stabilise Malaysia's virus-hit economy.

His actions suggest that the Cabinet is desperate and in panic-mode. It is clear that the Cabinet is unprepared, to lead Malaysia.

On the suggestion of down-sizing the Cabinet, Mustapa, who is a former veteran Umno-Baru politician, probably cannot appreciate that 'small is beautiful'. The bloated cabinet of 70 ministers and deputies costs the taxpayer too much money; but, a reduced Cabinet could focus minds and boost efficiency.

With many businesses being forcibly shut, and thousands of workers being told to take unpaid leave, Mustapa should tell Muhyiddin to stop paying the board of directors and upper management of the various GLCs such as FELDA, MARA, MAS and Khazanah. He should divert their exorbitant salaries and commission, into a fund to help low paid workers.  The next step will be to get rid of all the GLCs. They present a threat to small and medium sized industries.

The final step would be to end the NEP, but it is doubtful if Mustapa and Muhyiddin, would agree to this.

The NEP discourages foreign investment and promotes corruption. Many of the government’s affirmative action programs, like the NEP, are publicity stunts for the Malay community, which form the power base for parties like Umno-Baru, PAS and now, PN. The NEP does not address the underlying problems that face many Malaysians, principally the Malays.

The short-term benefits of the NEP may have benefitted many Malays, and some non-Malays, but in the long term, the NEP has disadvantaged all other Malaysians.

The warped policies have destroyed racial harmony. There is increasing resentment against the Malays, who many believe, have squandered the benefits they have been given.

The NEP may have caused an increase in the wealth of the Malay urban middle class but on the whole, many Malays remain poor.

Despite the housing privileges and discounts, few Malays can afford to buy houses. How many possess the business acumen to sustain a business, without going bust in the first year?

Undeniably, those who benefit the most are Umno-Baru cronies, whilst the majority of Malays remain marginalised, hoping that things will get better, because they believe the propaganda of Umno-Baru and PAS leaders.

Many of the poorer Malays live in hope, and some shun jobs, because they hope to become rich without putting in any effort. They see politicians like disgraced Najib Abdul Razak enjoying riches beyond their wildest dreams, and simple folk are led to believe that politics, and not hard work and perseverance is the way to success.

After decades of the NEP and billions of ringgit pumped into affirmative action schemes, very few Malays have truly succeeded without political patronage.

Our neighbours are overtaking us in the economic stakes, but Malaysians act like adolescent teenagers who are spoiling for a fight, only because our leaders continue to use race and religion to control the masses.

When the NEP is abolished and the Malays are motivated to compete on equal terms with the other races, foreign investors may return to Malaysia.

Source:

1. MalaysiaKini: Gov't invites public to give feedback on improving economy via new platform

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)