By Sim Kwang Yang
Much has been made in the media about Najib’s first 100 days in office as the latest Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Many commentators have observed how the political and economic measures initiated by Najib is to win back the middle ground, especially the Chinese and Indian voters who had shifted their political support to the Pakatan rakyat coalition during the March 8 general election last year.
For instance, he has announced liberalisation policies with regard to share equity in public listed companies, though some say that will benefit foreign investors more than Chinese and Indian investors.
Then, on the 100th day itself, Najib announced eleven measures that are supposed to shower gifts on Malaysian people. (I did not even go through the list.) It got the Pakatan Rakyat leadership worried.
I was wondering whether his very lame attempt to right the wrongs of the NEP will indeed tempt Chinese and Indian voters en masse back to the BN camp. Then I read this list on the blog Rage Against the System.
It is compiled obviously from a Chinese point of view. I hope my Chinese readers would not fall prey to reverse racism after reading this, and start to hate all Malays. I really have to warn you against this possibility. Read it with your critical radar in high gear. I also have no way of checking the authenticity of all the statistics given.
“55 Interesting Facts about Racism In Malaysia
Updated March 31, 2006
1) Out of all the 5 major banks, only one bank is multi-racial, the rest are controlled by malays
(2) 99% of Petronas directors are malays
(3) 3% of Petronas employees are Chinese
(4) 99% of 2000 Petronas gasoline stations are owned by malays
(5) 100% all contractors working under Petronas projects must be bumis status
(6) 0% of non-malay staffs is legally required in malay companies. But there must be 30% malay staffs in Chinese companies.
(7) 5% of all new intake for government police, nurses, army, is non-malays.
(8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), drop from 40% in 1960
(9) 2% is the percentage of non-malay government servants in Putrajaya. But malays make up 98%
(10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the whole government (in 2004), drop from 30% in 1960
(11) 95% of government contracts are given to malays
(12) 100% all business licensees are controlled by malay government e.g. Taxi permits, Approved permits, etc
(13) 80% of the Chinese rice millers in Kedah had to be sold to malay controlled Bernas in 1980s. Otherwise, life is make difficult for Chinese rice millers
(14) 100 big companies set up, owned and managed by Chinese Malaysians were taken over by government, and later managed by malays since 1970s e.g. UTC, UMBC, MISC, etc
(15) At least 10 Chinese owned bus companies (throughout Malaysia, throughout 40 years) had to be sold to MARA or other malay transport companies due to rejection by malay authority to Chinese application for bus routes and rejection for their application for new buses
(16) 2 Chinese taxi drivers were barred from driving in Johor Larkin bus station. There are about 30 taxi drivers and 3 are Chinese in October 2004. Spoiling taxi club properties was the reason given
(17) 0 non-malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar bus station (November 2004)
(18) 8000 billions ringgit is the total amount the government channeled to malay pockets through ASB, ASN, MARA, privatisation of government agencies, Tabung Haji etc, through NEP over 34 years period
(19) 48 Chinese primary schools closed down since 1968 – 2000
(20) 144 Indian primary schools closed down since 1968 – 2000
(21) 2637 malay primary schools built since 1968 – 2000
(22) 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools. Indian schools got only 1%, malay schools got 96.5%
(23) While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary (monthly) cannot get school-text-book-loan, a malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible
(24) 10 all public universities vice chancellors are malays
(25) 5% – the government universities lecturers of non-malay origins had been reduced from about 70% in 1965 to only 5% in 2004
(26) Only 5% is given to non-malays for government scholarships over 40 years
(27) 0 Chinese or Indians were sent to Japan and Korea under “Look East Policy”
(28) 128 STPM Chinese top students could not get into the course that they aspired i.e. Medicine (in 2004)
(29) 10% place for non-bumi students for MARA science schools beginning from year 2003, but only 7% are filled. Before that it was 100% malays
(30) 50 cases whereby Chinese and Indian Malaysians, are beaten up in the National Service program in 2003
(31) 25% is Malaysian Chinese population in 2004, drop from 45% in 1957
(32) 7% is the present Malaysian Indians population (2004), a drop from 12% in 1957
(33) 2 millions Chinese Malaysians had emigrated to overseas since 40 years ago
(34) 0.5 million Indian Malaysians had emigrated to overseas
(35) 3 millions Indonesians had migrated into Malaysia and became Malaysian citizens with bumis status.
(36) 600000 are the Chinese and Indians Malaysians with red IC and were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship for 40 years. Perhaps 60% of them had already passed away due to old age. This shows racism of how easily Indonesians got their citizenships compare with the Chinese and Indians
(37) 5% – 15% discount for a malay to buy a house, regardless whether the malay is rich or poor
(38) 2% is what Chinese new villages get compare with 98% of what malay villages got for rural development budget
(39) 50 road names (at least) had been change from Chinese names to other names
(40) 1 Dewan Gan Boon Leong (in Malacca) was altered to other name (e.g. Dewan Serbaguna or sort) when it was being officially used for a few days. Government try to shun Chinese names. This racism happened in around year 2000 or sort
(41) 0 temples/churches were built for each housing estate. But every housing estate got at least one mosque/surau built
(42) 3000 mosques/surau were built in all housing estates throughout Malaysia since 1970. No temples, no churches are required to be built in housing estates
(43) 1 Catholic church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to be constructed. But told by malay authority that it must look like a factory and not look like a church. Still not yet approved in 2004
(44) 1 publishing of Bible in Iban language banned (in 2002)
(45) 0 of the government TV stations (RTM1, RTM2, TV3) are directors of non-malay origins
(46) 30 government produced TV dramas and films always showed that the bad guys had Chinese face, and the good guys had malay face. You can check it out since 1970s. Recent years, this tendency becomes less
(47) 10 times, at least, malays (especially Umno) had threatened to massacre the Chinese Malaysians using May 13 since 1969
(48) 20 constituencies won by DAP would not get funds from the government to develop. Or these Chinese majority constituencies would be the last to be developed
(49) 100 constituencies (parliaments and states) had been racistly re-delineated so Chinese voters were diluted that Chinese candidates, particularly DAP candidates lost in election since 1970s
(50) Only 3 out of 12 human rights items are ratified by Malaysia government since 1960
(51) 0 – elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (UN Human Rights) is not ratified by Malaysia government since 1960s
(52) 20 reported cases whereby malay ambulance attendances treated Chinese patients inhumanely, and malay government hospital staffs purposely delay attending to Chinese patients in 2003. Unreported cases may be 200
(53) 50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths being beaten up by malay youths in public places. We may check at police reports provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record
(54) 20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down malays were seriously assaulted or killed by malays
(55) 12% is what ASB/ASN got per annum while banks fixed deposit is only about 3.5% per annum.
These statistics were originally posted in sachatamiagroup”
So, will the Chinese and Indian voters forget their half century marginalisation and begin to vote BN in the next general election just because of Najib’s overture to win back the middle ground?
Will the struggling Malay middle class in urban Malaysia and the marginalised rural agrarian Malays vote UMNO because of Najib’s effort to win back the middle ground?
How will the long neglected people of Sarawak and Sabah vote for Najib because of his “liberalisation”?
SKY
🙂
Hornbill Unleashed 
Don’t blame the BN government.
The Chinese should blame their elected BN representatives. These politicians are like prostitutes – they have been and are still selling their bodies and souls to the highest bidder – MONEY.
Well, money easy come, easy go. They may get to enjoy the quality of life but quatity? Time will tell.
Comment by 1MY — July 17, 2009 @ 9:58 AM |
Stimulating debate isn’t mischievous.
Of course the Chinese are guilty of stupid racism, just as the Dayak and Malays are. SKY has written about that in the past. I don’t see SKY’s writing ever defending “Chinese rights”, even if you see him as just another Chinese.
SKY’s discussion was aimed at examining a widely held view on racist policies, and at examining how much PM Najib has done to roll back these policies. Najib’s little “treats” should be seen in the context of decades of institutionalised racial hatred and policies.
Understanding the past will help us understand the resentment felt by Malaysians, and help us work towards a better future. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
If you find this discussion mischievous, I’d recommend Najib’s 1Malaysia blog. It’s much less challenging.
Comment by Pak Bui — July 16, 2009 @ 9:33 AM |
Publishing half truths and unsubstantiated figures puts you at the same low level of civility as BN politicians. You’re no different from the evil of BN’s spin doctors.
Comment by Carol — July 16, 2009 @ 10:59 PM |
MERDEKA CENTER POLL IS NOT ACCURATE. SAMPLINGS ABOUT 1,000 PLUS ONLY TAKEN.WHICH SEGMENTS? WHO? WHERE? NOT REVEALED? IT MUST BE ABOUT THREE INDEPENTENT POLLSTERS. CANNOT JUST TAKE ONE POLL RESULT AND MADE IT OFFICIAL?
Comment by stefanus — July 15, 2009 @ 4:13 PM |
Some of the figures are suspect but generally there’s thread of truth running through them. It cannot be denied that racial policies are woven into every fabric of Malaysian society. This is the reason for the brain drain of non-Malays.
Since I’m in the construction line, I’ll give another example. Consultants for govt. projects are required to be 100% bumi owned. Even partnerships are not acceptable.
Why has this happened? This is the result of racial politics which rewards the strong and penalizes the weak. MCA, MIC and Gerakan have all become subservient.
Najib’s policies have not even begin to scratch the surface of this racial discrimination. It is my belief that only a new govt with true multi-racial power sharing can address this, certainly not the present BN govt with all its baggage of the past.
As to your questions at the end:
1) No, the Chinese will not flock back to BN but I’m not too sure about the Indians. They seem to be easily influenced by superficial “reforms” and Hindraf appears to be veering back to BN.
2) The Malay middle class have more or less parted ways with Umno. The rural Malays are still Umno’s stronghold but PAS is chipping away at it. Both groups will not be substantially affected by Najib’s attempt to win back the non-Malays which is insubstantial anyway.
3) The marginalized natives Sabah and Sarawak are influenced by local issues. BN has lost the Chinese vote there also.
Comment by Kenny — July 15, 2009 @ 12:11 PM |
As a person who works very much with figures – I believe figures, if extracted properly do not lie, 1+1 will still equal 2 from what I can remember from my primary school maths. If I spend more than I earn, i will very quickly be bankrupt….the maths do add up…..
However, how one links figures to events is another matter e.g. perhaps statistics may show that there is a mathematical relationship between the number of chinese persons born to the occurence of floods in US…now, that is where a small measure of wisdom and common sense comes in.
I think the article above by sky & the stats provider does highlight some key concerns Sarawakians and Sabahans (definitely WMalaysians) have…the scary thing for me is that it puts a (tentative?) value to what has already been observed, therefore highlighting the severity of the issue.
the issue of racism is probably a response to the situation. What bothers the society, I presume is that the affirmative action, while important in the earlier days now apparently yields only fruits amongst a small selected population. Their poorer brothers remain poorer and the richer brothers more dependent, hence the question of whether the existing government action or inaction should continue.It also screams the question of whether the limited resources have been put to good use…..now whether the gov’t decides to ignore or skirt-around some of the issues blindly or take some aboard and have a hearty good go at rectifying the situation remains to be seen….
Comment by Amazed — July 15, 2009 @ 11:10 AM |
Let’s not deliberate / debate on this matter too much. Let’s work together to create a truly Bangsa Malaysia and a better future for our children and grand children.
Comment by K H Lee — July 15, 2009 @ 10:26 AM |
It’s good effort to keep Chinese and Indian fr. voting BN but it also highly dangerous step.
Worsen, all of the statement never have supportive documents/research! clear example like the BankS!!
As Malay I also can give 55 or more factors that Malays are site line in private sector or in fact real life.
I very much like that me and you as new face of Malaysia should work hard to improve this situation and not to used it to make us hate each other. Our war is against BN and me as a Malay against the UMNO whom have made used of the Malay right which make you and other races hate us.
Do not used the same tool design by UMNO to gain support and power!
Last but not least not blaming you on listing this out but sincerely let us work other way which we can built the future where we live equally, harmony, with no races are siteline and fareness is our way of woking out thing.
Comment by Ateng — July 15, 2009 @ 9:38 AM |
I agree. The stats are a little too racist for my liking.
sky
Comment by sky — July 15, 2009 @ 11:03 AM |
About the banks, I thought EON Bank is controlled by Rimbunan Hijau which is Chinese Foochow (or are they considered Bumis?). Hong Leong Bank and Public Bank are Chinese controlled, are they not?
Take a look inside Rimbunan Hijau,Jaya Tiasa, Subur Tiasa, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank and most Chinese controlled companies. Malays are rare in these organizations, especially in management and executive positions. If there are Malays, they are hired as clerks, office boys, receptionists, security guards, drivers, cleaners and tea ladies. It’s not formal policy, but an unstated policy by Chinese companies to discrimminate against non-Chinese. For Foochow companies, the discrimination includes non-Foochow chinese.
Figures lie. We can always present figures in ways that we wish people to perceive our message. For example, you did not say why the Chinese and Tamil primary schools were closed down, but you made it to seem like the gov’t did.
Comment by Iskandar Zulbryner — July 15, 2009 @ 8:17 AM |
Good comments. I did realise that the figures are unsubstantiated.
The SMEs are still controlled by the Chinese, and they hire the most workers in our economy. Ynfortunately, they hire too many foreign workers nowadays. Anybody has any hard statistics?
How about the level of pverty among the Malays in the east Coast, in Sarawak and Sabah?
Comment by sky — July 15, 2009 @ 11:07 AM |
The beauty, SKY, is that in East Malaysia, poverty knows no race. People think that all Chinese are rich but are they really? And you are right about the poor Malays in the coastal areas.
I have to say that the list contents some little truth and some added “spice” to drum up some “heat”. I wouldn’t take it all but sift it.
To be honest, all race in Malaysia discriminate against others.
I met a Chinese from Miri while working in JB and he told me how he knows the kind of company he goes to (he was a salesperson). If he goes to one company and there are more Malays there, he knows it belongs to a Malay and so on.
KL is not much like that thankfully. Although I can’t say so in all professions and companies.
Comment by dee — July 15, 2009 @ 4:01 PM |