YOURSAY | Bumi-to-bumi shares sale not the right approach

YOURSAY | ‘The bigger losers might be the bumiputera themselves.’

Govt to set sale of bumiputera shares, companies only to bumiputeras

Dr Suresh Kumar: The country’s most divisive policy, the New Economic Policy (NEP), which was introduced in the early 1970s, in its various permutations has failed to honour its original objective of eradicating poverty for all Malaysians. It has been hijacked by the elite and the ruling-class Malays for nearly half a century. Yes, you heard it right, half a century.

I believe at least a trillion ringgit have been siphoned off over this period. If not, today we would have been a super successful developed nation. Yet, forwarding freight companies, whose owners have put in their heart, soul, time, sweat and blood to develop them, are told to give up 51 percent of their shares to the Malays.

I was aghast when I read this ‘daylight robbery’ plan. International investors are watching us with trepidation. I am aware some educated Malays are also against this injustice, I have spoken to a few of them, but then again that's all they do - expressing their disappointment to me.

We can have another 100 Malaysia Plans but if you do not have principles and develop a good sense of justice, the country will be doomed. This will happen in less than 50 years, I bet my last penny. I sincerely wish I will be proven wrong.

Sun: What an idea to restrict the sales of bumiputera shares and companies to only bumiputera. It’s akin to shooting oneself on the foot.

If bumiputera can only sell to bumiputera, you’d have two immediate results. One, bumiputera who want to sell cannot sell because there are no buyers; and two, they sell but will not get the true worth of the property.

Either way, the bumiputera is hurt by these kinds of short-sighted policies. There are other ways to correct this problem, but I guess it is too much trouble for the policy drafters.

Learn from nature: For as long as you coddle a life, it will remain unable to stand on its own. That is why birds teach their young to fly and beasts of the forest teach their young to hunt. You do not see a bird flying with its grown chicks on its back, do you?

The NEP has been around since the 70s and still, my children cannot stand on their feet. Have you ever stopped to wonder why?

Fair Play: Indeed, like the bumiputera-owned property, bumiputera equity traded in a licensed stock exchange for only bumiputera would likely have a lower price than the freely-traded equities.

So most probably, there is a need to reclassify the same class of share as Class A and Class B share. No prize for guessing which class would command a higher price.

There used to be a stock exchange only for bumiputera-listed companies. Companies traded in the bumiputera stock exchange with low activities so much so that eventually the bumiputera stock exchange had to close shop.

I suppose some things never change or more likely this - the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The bigger losers might be the bumiputera themselves because they might have a harder time finding a willing buyer, like selling bumiputera-allocated properties to bumiputera only.

BluePanther4725: The ordinary Malays/bumiputera remain poor because Umno/Perikatan Nasional kleptocrat politicians have plundered most of the country's money and resources.

The Umno kleptocrats, as usual, use the bumiputera policies to enrich themselves and their cronies by getting all the projects, contracts and takeovers of non-bumiputera companies.

We see many rich Malays living in huge mansions and driving luxury vehicles. These are the select group of cronies who benefit hugely from the bumiputera policies. The majority of Malaysians - Malays, Orang Asli, Chinese and Indians still have to struggle to make a living.

Proarte: Why can't we adopt a needs-based approach to every action plan the government intends to carry out? The Federal Constitution is brought up every time to justify the appalling racism evident in the language used by the prime minister - "Only for bumiputera, etc".

To talk about below par bumiputera corporate equity, which needs privileged allocations to redress the "imbalance" with the other races, is highly misleading. There is no point talking about the percentage of the equity when the majority of it is held by the elites.

The same applies to the non-Malays. Just because Ananda Krishnan is a billionaire does not mean all Indians are rich. The Chinese have their Kuoks, Yeohs, Tehs, Cheahs, etc, but does it mean all Chinese are rich?

What we need to do is to talk about equity distribution within the Malay community. The Umno game is to keep Malays alive but not too poor but at the same time not too comfortable. They want them to feel insecure and feel the non-Malays are the cause of their supposed deprivation and that Umno is looking out for them by talking about 'Malay only' allocations.

But does it reach the average Malay? Of course not! Malays are being fed fantasies all the time and they are wising up to the Umno scam.

How does one expect the non-Malays who comprise 40 percent of the population to feel a sense of inclusiveness when the army, police force, civil service is 90 percent Malays or when 100 percent of the vice-chancellors of taxpayer-funded public universities are Malays? Where is the sense of proportion, decency and respect for academic excellence which is so vital for a progressive nation?

The government should not racialise everything if they are truly interested in helping the population. They should focus on B40 (bottom 40 percent) group equity, educational levels, and health. No country in the world which claims to be civilised and decent condones institutionalised racism.

Even the bumiputera of East Malaysia have been sidelined by the Malay ruling elite, with Malays or Muslim East Malaysians holding the majority of the top posts.

Let us not forget the enormous resources which have been plundered and diverted to Peninsular Malaysia under lopsided arrangements which insult the notion of independent countries coming together to form Malaysia as equal partners as per the 1963 agreement.

The question is, why can't a 'Malaysian Malaysia' be the new approach for us to adopt? Learn from Lee Kuan Yew, not his dictatorial methods, but his insistence on high educational standards, an incorruptible civil service and police force.

After leaving Malaysia, Singapore has become one of the richest countries in the world and has left us lagging way behind in every index one cares to mention.

Dr Raman Letchumanan: Wealth is not only measured by publicly traded shareholdings. Does this only include public-listed companies? What about Sdn Bhd companies, sole proprietorship, family business, property, cash, gold and diamonds, luxury cars, etc?

What about the shares held by the Permodalan Nasional Berhad, GLCs, etc? Is it counted towards shareholding by ethnicity?

It is common knowledge that shareholding, if any, is a small part of the wealth of an average household. Was a proper census done on the total wealth at market value? Please show us the statistics.

If only 17.2 percent of the target 30 percent of the NEP was attained after 50 years, there will be no need to continue along the same path and with the same remedy. Was an independent post-mortem done to find out the cause of the failure of the NEP? It is always easier to do more of the same.

As least, limiting transaction of bumiputera shareholding to only bumiputera will avoid profiteering and leakages. But look at the impact it will have on the market, like in the sale of bumiputera housing quota.

A company's worth is measured based on its share price, and hence its capacity to operate and grow its business. A large chunk of the shares cannot be languishing in its own limited ethnic market.

The best solution as always is to let the economy thrive by market forces, without any distortions or favouritism. This is free-market economy, lesson 101 on economic development.

Please go back to the ‘prosper thy neighbour’ policy where everybody prospers. More importantly, government revenue through tax on profits rests heavily on a thriving economy, not on share or wealth transfers through affirmative action. I am sure NEP targets will be reached easily within these five-year 12th Malaysian Plan period.

OCT: I agree. It is incredible and unbelievable that even after 50 years and with so many Malaysia plans that were specially crafted to raise the bumiputera shares, it is still less than 20 percent.

Yet, the rakyat can see that all government ministers are super-rich. Their houses look like palatial homes. They can send their children overseas to study. They have cash beyond the dream of any ordinary Malays.

There must be something wrong with the statistics or with all the five-year Malaysia plans. The government never bothers to find the reasons why the help given to the Malays are not achieving its purpose and target.

Instead, they prefer to impose more rules and regulations on the non-Malays businesses so that they have to give up their shares to the Malays. This is not the right approach.

The government should teach and create opportunities for the Malays to compete instead of robbing Ah Chong to give to Ali.

It is a real pity that the common Malays cannot move out of poverty after more than 60 years of Malay government administration. Malaysia resource is finite. Soon it will be depleted. FDI won't be easy as there is strong competition from neighbouring countries. How much longer can such a concept sustain the Malays if the Malays don't learn how to compete on equal terms?

The world is borderless. There is no favouritism for any Malays if they want to go global. 

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