Racial affirmative action tripping Malaysia

Zaid: Racial affirmative action tripping Malaysia

The Malay Mail Online 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Malaysia is deluding itself into thinking it can become a developed nation with the existence of race-based preferential policies, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (picture) said today.

The former Cabinet minister also noted that “much as you don’t like to admit it, Singapore is a success story” and called on Malaysians to examine former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s remarks, instead of summarily dismissing them.

“You cannot isolate a vibrant physical development of the nation without policies based on fair values,” Zaid told The Malay Mail Online.

“There’s nothing more divisive than discrimination. As long as we ignore that fundamental truth, we’ll be deluding ourselves in the long-term,” added Malaysia’s former de facto law minister.

In his latest book “One Man’s View of the World”, Lee wrote that Malaysia’s brain drain problem was caused by Putrajaya’s insistence on promoting “one race” above all others.

Malaysia faces a severe talent flight issue with an estimated 5 per cent of skilled locals exiting the country on an annual basis — with most bound south for neighbouring Singapore.

A World Bank report from 2011 concluded that 20 per cent of Malaysian graduates opted to leave the country, again with Singapore cited as the preferred destination.

The city-state rapidly transformed into a developed nation in less than half a century since breaking away from Malaysia in 1965.

Senior Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders also acknowledged yesterday that race-based policies had contributed to Malaysia bleeding talent, a problem that needs to be solved if the country is to achieve high-income status by 2020.

Zaid, who has batted for both Umno and PKR, said the brain drain was merely one aspect of the problem created by discriminatory race-based policies.

“You don’t have the best to lead the country,” he said.

“When you don’t have the best, you don’t always produce the best. Developed nation is when people have the ability to produce the best,” he added.

Zaid pointed out that race-based policies in Malaysia have been “hijacked” from their original purpose of being a “safety net to help the Bumiputeras”.

He also said that Malaysia has become “very orthodox” as a Muslim country.

“I think I would say that we are not keeping in tune with the more open democratic societies that the world is moving to,” he said.

“You don’t have a developed country under authoritarian rule. Singapore is authoritarian in some aspects, but by and large it’s a free society,” added the politician-turned-businessman.

Lee wrote in his book that Malaysia was “relaxed” at one time, noting that the country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, used to drink whisky and brandy with friends.

But the elder statesman said that Malaysia has become “much more orthodox” since and that Malaysians now toast each other with “syrups”.

ABSOLUTELY TRUE? M'sia willing to lose talent so that Malays can be dominant - Kuan Yew

Tuesday, 06 August 2013 21:06

Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race, said Lee Kuan Yew in his new book which was launched tonight in Singapore.

And although Malaysia has acknowledged the fact that they are losing these talents and is making an attempt to lure Malaysians back from overseas, such efforts may be too little too late, he said.

"This is putting the country at a disadvantage. It is voluntarily shrinking the talent pool needed to build the kind of society that makes use of talent from all races.

"They are prepared to lose that talent in order to maintain the dominance of one race," he said in the 400-page book called "One Man's View of the World".

It features conversations between Lee and his long-time admirer, Helmut Schmidt, former leader of West Germany. They discussed world affairs when Schmidt visited Singapore last year.

In the book, Lee pointed out that Malaysia is losing ground and  giving other countries a head start in the external competition.

About 400,000 of some one million Malaysians overseas are in Singapore, according to the World Bank.

When announcing the five-year plan for Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Parliament in 2011, the government would set up a talent corporation to lure some 700,000 Malaysians working abroad back to the country.

But in his book, Lee said the demographic changes in Malaysia will lead to a further entrenchment of Malay privileges.

He noted that in the last 10 years, since the enactment of the New Economic Policy, the proportion of Malaysian Chinese and Indians of the total population has fallen dramatically.

"The Chinese made up 35.6 percent of the population in 1970. They were down to 24.6 percent at the last census in 2010. Over that same period, the Indian numbers fell from 10.8 percent to 7.3 percent," he said.

He added, "40 percent of our migrants are from Malaysia.

"Those with the means to do so leave for countries farther afield. In the early days, Taiwan was a popular destination among the Chinese-educated.

"In recent years, Malaysian Chinese and Indians have been settling in Europe, America and Australia. Some have done very well for themselves, such as Penny Wong, Australia’s current finance minister.

"Among those who have chosen to remain in Malaysia, some lack the means to leave and others are making a good living through business despite the discriminatory policies. Many in this latter class partner with Malays who have connections."

World Bank data for 2012 showed that the island republic has raced ahead of its neighbour, with gross domestic product per capita of US$51,709 compared with Malaysia’s US$10,381.

Najib had said Malaysia is set to become a high income developed nation as early as 2018, two years earlier than the targeted 2020.

Lee said in his book the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 marked "the end of a different vision in Malaysia on the race issue".

He added, "Much of what has been achieved in Singapore could have been replicated throughout Malaysia. Both countries would have been better off."

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