By CC Pung
Justice of Peace , Tokoh Wartawan Sabah and Labuan, dose of philosophical musings.
They’re done with the latest Bumiputera Economic Congress.
I was thinking … with our Ringgit depreciating, cost of living soaring and uncertainties abound in our economy, a .
Everyone (except perhaps Mahathir, najib, and Daim) needs help. Not just bumiputeras.
Since the openly discriminatory pro bumiputera New Ecnomic Policy was interduced in 1970, all manner of handout programs, subsidies, loans, etc have been created to help them catch up in the economy.
Figures revealed at this latest Congress showed they have not yet caught up after 50 years.
I don’t know what matrix is being used or if the wrong statisticians were hired. But the target for bumi participation seemed forever illusive.
NEP has been called an affirmative policy.which, to me, is just a play with words.
In practice, it is an outright racist policy thinly disguised. Every bumiputera would have benefitted from NEP without even trying.
It’s become a happy habit that no NEP beneficiary would be comfortable to talk about.
They therefore would also avoid talking about the fact that while they passively benefited, largely unfairly, their non bumiputera countryman are discriminated, marginalised, treated like an under class.
After decades, Malaysians are now experts at dancing around the subject of NEP a.k.a racism. Politicians’ forked tongue are in dull display constantly.
There’s hardly anything done under NEP that isn’t discriminatory.
As if to confirm that Malaysia is racist. We are one of only a handful of countries who have not ratified ICERD (is it the International Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination?).
Apparently 179 other countries have ratified. Malaysia boleh.
“Think, friends, Are we a racist country. Yes or no?
Many of us will answer ‘yes, but…’ or ‘no, because…”‘
Don’t lie.
Go Google ‘racism index’, and ‘bak kut teh’ while you’re at it.
Editor: The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of Talantang.
