TERAJU + NEM = TERJUNAM............

TERAJU + NEM = TERJUNAM............


By Vijay Kumar Murugavell

Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes of the New Economic Policy (NEP), a new gargoyle named Teraju was launched on February 8, 2011.

The newborn Teraju was seen as the offspring of the 41 year old NEP and drew flak from naysayers.

Some said that the formation of Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) will “dilute” the NEM (New Economic Model) and would likely send the wrong message to foreign investors who had been hopeful of reform. I totally agree except that I think the word “dilute” is too polite, perhaps “negate” would be a more apt description.

DAP Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua echoed the thoughts of many when he opined that “Najib had made NEM irrelevant with the new Bumiputera unit while extending the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) without clear deadline”.

Eyebrows were raised as this contradicted the NEM’s spirit which was to implement affirmative action programmes to assist the bottom 40 per cent of income earners regardless of race and background.

Tony Pua was not alone in his critique, a member of the National Economic Action Council (NEAC), a former minister and the former US Ambassador to Malaysia concurred that Najib seemed to be placing the race agenda above the egalitarian intention of the NEM.

When the NEM was first announced I was concerned at how it was arrived at that 40 per cent of the population needed assistance. Only failed states are in a situation where nearly half the population are unable to sustain themselves without government assistance.

Even without comprehensive research figures 20 per cent would make more sense just going by the Pareto principle. Unless of course the government of the day is ready to admit that we are a failed state.

In any case would it not be more urgent and practical to help the bottom 20 per cent first rather than make such grandiose proclamations?

As we know, most of these statistics are shrouded in secrecy or at best opaque. For example the official Bumiputera equity holdings is quoted at 18.9 per cent (NEP target is 30 per cent) while some like Dr Lim Teck Ghee gave compelling arguments that the 18.9 per cent figure is fallacious and that the 30 per cent target had already been achieved.

The question to ask is this: Is corporate equity meaningful to the “man on the street” ? Does it make any difference to him/her that someone or some entity that happened to share their ethnic origins holds a certain proportion of the pie?

Let me give one more example to illustrate my point. Ethnic Indians make up about seven per cent of the Malaysian population, MIC had set for the community to achieve a target of three per cent (currently equity holdings is said to be 1.5 per cent).

If tycoon Ananda Krishnan quadrupled his net worth the macro figure of three per cent will not only be achieved but exceeded but will this make any difference to Indians in the lower income bracket?

Or is “Te-Raju” going to suddenly have a change of heart and help those with the name Raju?

Macro figures are only meaningful if you have got the fundamentals right but we apparently have not as every time the government announces some grandiose economic benchmark being achieved the Rakyat moan and roll their eyes as they cannot identify with these. Simply put the inequality between the rich and poor has not been addressed. This can be measured by the Gini coefficient.

To the uninitiated Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality ranging from 0 to 1, with 0 representing absolute equality and 1 representing absolute inequality. In 2007, Malaysia’s Gini coefficient was 0.441, an improvement over the 0.462 in 2004 but let’s not forget that in 1990 the Gini coefficient was 0.442, this means we have hardly made any sustainable progress in addressing the problem of income disparity for nearly two decades.

The government should be spending more money on education and health care programmes specifically designed for the lower income group to help narrow the gap and not overpriced military hardware and wasteful projects awarded to inept crony contractors and other ill-conceived spending.

The bottom 40 per cent of households have an average income of RM1,222 whilst the top 20 per cent earn an average of RM8,157; thus, some say that an inheritance tax, increased taxes for the higher income group and GST (Goods & Services Tax) will help narrow this gap.

This is debatable, however. First, the government must stop the leakages that are bleeding us to death.

Show us first that you are prudent with our money before asking for more. You are answerable to the Rakyat; this is not your fiefdom.

Other than this, entrepreneurship programmes for the young should be given attention in our quest to be a fully developed nation.

Recently I received a message from an irate parent in Klang, Selangor. His son and nephew go to a secondary school there and were excited when told that they could choose to be members of various clubs/societies.

The boys had a keen interest in business and applied to join the Young Entrepreneurs Club. Their applications were, howevers turned down on grounds that the said club was for Bumiputeras only. Why not call it the “Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Club” then?

What kind of message is this sending to the students? Did some bigoted and overzealous civil servant get over excited about Teraju and decide on his/her own? I would not be surprised as the prime minister himself has opened Pandora’s Box when he reneged on his NEM pledges and tried to dress up old wine (NEP) in a new bottle (Teraju).

Within Pakatan Rakyat so far, only DAP has roundly condemned the NEM and Teraju paradox. They have every right to do so as the DAP led Penang state government under the stewardship of Lim Guan Eng has reported that 70 per cent of the two state firm’s open tenders have been won by Malay contractors, showing that the community is not only able to compete but thrive in a competitive environment.

Malay contractors won 16 out of 23 tender awards, or 70 per cent, from the Penang Development Corporation(PDC) and 44 out of 66 or 67 per cent of contracts issued by the Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBAPP) in open tenders since Pakatan Rakyat took over Penang in March 2008.

Be afraid, Umno; be very afraid.

sooner or later, your lies that Malay’s need crutches will be debunked. In fact there is no need to wait another decade or so, I am saying it now: Malay contractors CAN compete; it is only Umno contractors accustomed to preferential treatment who cannot.

PAS vice president Datuk Mahfuz Omar, who is also the MP for Pokok Sena, said last month that the establishment of Teraju is a sign that the previous established agencies have failed in driving Malay and Bumiputra agenda.

I quote him verbatim : “We already have Mara, Bank Rakyat, UDA, Ekuinas and many other agencies to help the agenda of Malay transformation. To include Teraju which has the same purpose as these agencies is not really helpful and only adds to the whole mess in the Malay and Bumiputera transformation agendas.”

This statement, while true, does not answer the question on whether PAS approves of the “Bumiputera Agenda”.

Does Islam which is the basis of PAS struggle condone discrimination based on ones ethnicity? It would be good if PAS can address that aspect of Teraju.

No one at the PKR national leadership has said one iota on the Teraju issue, they seem to be too busy bickering who is going to “Teraju” (Spearhead) PKR Selangor, who is going to “Teraju” PKR Wilayah etc, what they need is a good “Terajang”(kick) in the hind quarters.

Please remember your political power comes from the votes of the rakyat not party positions. Wake up and get your act together.

This blessed country is teeming with natural resources and good, hard working , decent people, if properly governed and not hijacked by selfish politicians we can turn Malaysia into a powerhouse that may even rival Hong Kong.

If that happens, I would not be surprised that Singapore asks to rejoin the Federation they left in 1965, but as it stands now I can hear the guffawing of Singaporeans from across the causeway right until Putrajaya.

Comments (4)...

written by Democrats, March 14, 2011 18:19:43

Let me get this straight. My tax money paid will now be channeled to some agency meant to draft policies to further hamper my personal progress as a non- bumiputera. ...

written by Motherchell, March 14, 2011 01:20:52

UMNO never faces a drought for monikers. 99.9% of their vote banks wouldn't the difference between a horse and a dog--- but know the value of the crumbs handed out to them once every 5 years. There is not one UMNO Minister or their scalawags who have any knowledge of economics---for that matter guts to speak on topics assigned to their portfolios. Very soon after Cambodia's economy picks up -- by that time Petronas wells will be filled with mud---the Uputras will sell Malaysia off as a parking lot!! ..

written by syd, March 13, 2011 17:39:21

how many more of such agencies do we need?

probably cheaper and more effective to give money directly to poor bumis in aid. even better to extend this to all the poor. ..

written by batsman, March 13, 2011 14:27:07

More agencies, more departments, more commissions, more GLCs just mean more jobs for cronies to shuffle useless bits of paper around and make life miserable for the rakyat.