COMMENT BY YB PROF DR P.RAMASAMY, DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER II, PENANGIt has been rumoured that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has agreed that the requirement of 51 percent equity for non-Bumiputra freight forwarding companies has deferred been until next year.
I am not sure the MoF might come up with an official statement as it might be construed giving in to the non-Bumiputra freight forwarders.
Anyway the very thought of imposing this equity tantamount to wiping out the non-Bumiputra freight companies from their involvement in freight forwarding business. The NEP’s imposition of 30 percent equity for non-Bumiputra companies was bad enough.
Such an equity never really contributed to the economic and commercial achievement of the Bumiputra community. It ended up in giving undue advantage to the political and bureaucratic and political elite at the expense of the larger community.
In many instances, the NEP requirement was used to enrich a small minority especially those in the dominant Malay political parties.
The government rather than finding out as to cause of the NEP failure especially in meeting the 30 percent equity requirement has jumped to impose a new requirement of 51 percent equity for Bumiputra in non-Bumiputra companies in the logistics sector in order to obtain customs licenses.
No where in the world would any government push for such kind of measure to deprive one segment so that another segment could benefit.
This preposterous and the most unkindest measure against Malaysian citizens who have nurtured and built up the companies from scratch.
All of a sudden the government says to the non-Bumiputra stakeholders that they must give up their majority share in logistics business to Bumiputra so that customs licenses can be obtained.
All the hard work and sweat in building up their businesses would mean nothing if the government commits a delight robbery to force the non-Bumiputra freight forwarders to part with their majority share.
This is nothing but plain daylight robbery in the name of addressing the Bumiputra equity in the name of the NEP or the Nver Ending policy.
Yet it is this hypocritical government of Ismail Saberi that talks about Malaysia as one big family.
Yes, superficially we might have one family, but sadly this one large family is deeply divided and fragmented where the very survival of the Malay-only government depends on the continued division and conflict within society.
Really, you cannot have one big family, when the government itself is responsible for splitting the family in terms of racial and religious divisions.
One big family does not make any sense when there is move to deprive one segment of the population so that another segment can benefit without of course putting in the hard work.
The 51 percent equity for Bumiputra is a plain mockery to rob and maim the non-Bumiputra who have worked hard and built up their businesses over the years.
Even if the 51 percent of the equity is maintained, I wonder how the mere provision of the equity can benefit the Bumiputra companies.
Businesses are not built over night nor is equity comes by the way of government policy, it must be earned through sheer hard work.
Increasing the equity for Bumiputra companies might be popular from a political angle, however, whether such a provision will be meaningful to them remains to be seen.
If the NEP’s 30 percent equity has hardly made an impact in addressing the economic woes of the Bumiputra whatever guarantee is there that the 51 percent equity could bring major and overarching benefits to the Bumiputra community.
Even after so many years of the NEP, the government refuses to learn from past mistakes. Ethnic and religious divisions are continuing to spur the government to engage in populist policies, policies that might earn the votes but doubtful whether they will be meaningful to the economic advancement of the Bumiputra community.
Why keep on punishing and depriving the non-Bumiputra of their hard earned wealth. Don’t they have constitutional rights that need to be defended at all costs?
