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In this country almost everything is about race. No mention of anything based on meritocracy. At this rate we will soon become a banana republic.

Why don't our country's leaders see beyond their race for the sake of our country?

Even Singapore which has no NEP has to evolve to stay relevant in this fast changing world.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/20/nation/18642941&sec=nation

Less than 24 hours ago, the PM says: "I have been fair, I want to be fair, I’ll always be fair."

The Barisan Nasional chairman's pledge was greeted by thunderous applause from the more than 1,700 MCA delegates who listened attentively to his hour-long address before opening the 54th MCA annual general assembly at Wisma MCA's Dewan San Choon here yesterday.

Do you think those foreign investors monitoring the situation here are idiots? The whole country is out of control, the PM role's .... sigh! Every umnoputra want to be taiko.

The NEP did not exist at the time the social contract was forged so how can Umno say that it is against the spirit of the social contract to question the relevance of the NEP today?

If the intention is to help the malays come up and participate in nation-building, then well and fine. One cannot abandon one's national brothers. But in the process of helping them, it should make them also self-reliant, not exclusively dependent on the continued heavy-handedness of a government which is supposed to be patriarch to all at the same family table. At the same time, the patience and forbearance of the others who have sacrificed so much so that their fellowmen can come up should also not be tested one minute more. There are many chinese and indians who are poorer than an increasing number of malays. Not even Badawi will be able to hide from admitting that this situation is unfair.

So how can fairness and all that be realized when one member of the multi-party government already treats other members as though they have less right to even question an arrangement wrought by subterfuge and bullyism, satisfied by leakage and ethnocentrism, propagated by greed, corruption cronyism, favoritism, arrogance and desecration of integrity?

Badawi speaks about joint-ventures. Also, fine. But can he in the same breath as saying he will always be fair also add that a joint-venture of Chinese and Indian business partners vying for a government contract will definitely, transparently, and openly be treated as fairly as a majority Malay-owned business vying for the same contract?

If he cannot admit the lacuna in his statement, then ali-babaism will continue because the same vice of not wanting to become self-reliant by one business partner will propagate the rent-based processes that augment such a cost-inefficient and non-competitive approach to nation-building.

We all have to face up that the time for pushing stability above efficiency has passed. Today if we are inefficient in the way we do things, anything, there will be a bigger instability down the road because the wave will engulf all, not just the Malay community. It's like removing the plank in front of you to put it behind you. Either way, you will fall with each attempted step forward.

And if you tell me half the politics of this country is based on sandiwara - giving the appearance of defending communal rights and privileges - then if we go on playing such childish brinkmanship, how can there be mature nation-building where it counts? One day, the actor who gets into his act so deeply will not be able to extricate his true self from the act played out; he becomes what he acts, a subject of his own jaundiced script.

The bottomline is this: all this race-based politicking is predicated on thinking (or giving the reason as) that one community is dumb. That is a highly unproductive and myopic assertion. If we want this nation to truly and really make progress, we must stop all policies which pander to that notion that the characteristics of a community cannot be changed. In fact, given what we have seen all these forty years or more in national development, the one thing that has been clouded by all those new-fangled development projects and grandiose schemes is the changing of the mindset of an entire community.

One can only attribute to one posit the reason why this has not been tackled - the politicians concerned don't want to
make changing the presumed mindset of their supporters the national imperative.

If politicians are constantly harping that their support will be eroded if they don't pander to what THEY think would be the reaction of their voters, how can the voters elevate their mindset to find the next higher level of not just co-existence with others but also enough candid admission of the state of this nation to create a new call for more massive change?

I submit we need to change the way this country operates. Not just the economy and industry but also in how we think about everything because if the thinking process remains stymied, parochial, silo-ed and zerosummed, there will be no progress even for those who deny that the state of this nation is shit.

Everything now is split up - it has become 'them and us' between party x and party y, government and citizens, public sector and private sector, fellow countrymen and coexisting races, rich and poor, profesionals and non-professionals, God 1 and God 2 believers, judiciary and legislation, academicians and students, parents and children, even integration policies versus diversification aspirations.

In all these, where is the common denominator that all are after all citizens of Malaysia each of whose equity in this country is not about the proportion of shares one should be holding in a falling company of a dampened economy in a hollowed industry? It is the equity of malaysianness. You can't measure the depth and breath of your loyalty to King and country. You can't say in advance how much effort and personal sacrifice you will put in when the situation calls a-calling. You just know when the time comes, you will do all of your best, and, whatever it takes.

No government should ever be voted to blackmail the citizens into thinking they will destabilize their own society on the grounds of rights and privileges as defined by the same members of the government. No citizen should allow himself or herself to be hoodwinked into thinking he or she is not smart enough to see through the scam - because the result of not doing so is to create more than scams. Scandals, actually. In fact, those who have to wear sandals should give the boot to those who create scandals.

The citizens of this country should be more concerned why after fifty years we have only one stately prince but a thousand golems out there.

If the ring doesn't fit, grow a better finger.

Neil,
That was a fantastic piece.I do not think our BN leaders especially UMNO have the vision and the guts to accept your views to put them into practice because their love is for wealth for themselves and not for creating a united, peaceful and prosperous nation of Malaysia. I have also by serious doubts whether the electorate is also upto it.

If Pak Lah is really sincere with all his rhetorics, he should start telling everyone how he intends to be fair to all races in this country. Something like an action plan.

Weaning process is undoubtedly painful but ultimately its for the better good, just like how my two kids whom grew big enough that its time to have solid food most of the time.

One suggestion I have is to continue the current practise of awarding government jobs to Bumiputra class F, E and D contractors. This is the level of which they are supposed to learn the trade. For multi-million jobs, the tenders should be opened to all companies, this will then further promote competition for the bumi contractors and increase their competitiveness.

If every single government job is awarded to a single race, then there is no impetus to improve their delivery system.

My 2 cents.

If Pak Lah is really sincere with all his rhetorics, he should start telling everyone how he intends to be fair to all races in this country. Something like an action plan.

Weaning process is undoubtedly painful but ultimately its for the better good, just like how my two kids whom grew big enough that its time to have solid food most of the time.

One suggestion I have is to continue the current practise of awarding government jobs to Bumiputra class F, E and D contractors. This is the level of which they are supposed to learn the trade. For multi-million jobs, the tenders should be opened to all companies, this will then further promote competition for the bumi contractors and increase their competitiveness.

If every single government job is awarded to a single race, then there is no impetus to improve their delivery system.

My 2 cents.

Actually the success story of BN is really simple. They speak differently to different audience. Infront of the Malay, they will hit the Chinese like there is no tomorrow. Infront of the Chinese, they will act like fighting for Chinese rights ( eg Chinese school, equal business opportunity etc ). If the opposition were to stoop so low as them, they will be called racist/extremist etc. But it is ok, if BN to play race card..not opposition.

My advice to the opposition would be, don't be afraid if they try to accuse you for being racist/extremist etc. For example, DAP being popular among Chinese/Indian, continue to focus on this area, don't bother trying to attract malays vote as it has been proven futile. For PAS, concentrate on the Muslim votes, don't bother to "modify" your image for the sake of attracting the non-muslim votes, all you will get is an extra few votes, and lost more muslim votes in return.

As for Keadilan, continue with your multi-ethnic strategy.

With this, i am confident the opposition can deny BN 2/3 majority, and even defeat them!

JEFF OOI says: There are 219 seats in the Parliament. To deny the BN 2/3 majority means to gove the Opposition no loess than 76 seats. The Opposition currently has 20 seats -- 12 DAP, 6 PAS, 1 Keadilan and 1 Independent who is leaning towards the BN. Do the maths.

Election close

MCA trying to attract Chinese that they are doing something.

Umno in other hand against it so it look like they are doing something to attract Malay that they are doing something.

BN plan .... don't get too excited.

mmmmmm..........

believe it or not, the NEP caused the malays becoming poorer.
If there is no NEP, the malays would be forced to seek employment and earn an income at a younger age, and gain real world experience in the real world instead of wasting their time in higher learning institution only to become uselessly educated and unemployed.

NEP only makes UMNOputra richer. Have you seen a poor UMNO branch leader, division heads and etc. All of them are very rich. Look at the man who build a palace in Klang. What his position in UMNO and he is a multi millionaire.

Do they realise in ten or twenty or even thirty years time when the instant bumiputras (eg foreigners who converted and become instant bumi) will probably join UMNO and take over the country?

Then they will realise what their NEP policy has done to the Malays.....

What is the comment on job vacancy with states "Bumiputera sahaja"?
Those whom are born and raised here isn't bumiputera, aren't we are also childrens of this Malaysia soil?

Bumiputra terms because of NEP, Mandarin terms is also because of NEP... Stupidity has never come to such extend.