The Doctrine of the Freed Malay

The government has announced the removal of the 30% rule on equity allocation. Earlier, it has also done away with the FICC and the rules associated with foreigners setting up businesses in Malaysia. This administration has started dismantling certain edifices of the NEP. Clearly, this new approach indicates a changing perception on managing this country's economy.

There is a term for this stand that refuses to accept things as they are. It is directly opposite to that of conservative thinking. Conservatism in the original sense means a stand taken to insist things to remain as they are. It stands for the business as usual approach. In political terms it means reliance on the state or government to perform the functions which are better accomplished by the free individual.

The opposite of this stand, which is being adopted by this current administration, is libertarianism. It represents an unwillingness to see things as they believe that things can be done and get better through the free individual. It relies on the voluntary cooperation of individuals each pursuing their own interest.

Let me be more direct. The NEP is a legislative instrument designed to achieve a number of economic objectives which should be carried out by free men. We accepted it as necessary because of certain debilitating factors in society especially so in Malay society, which occurred as a result of a number of reasons. The NEP therefore became a means to concentrate economic and political powers at one place. Such concentration was fraught with dangers but we accepted the arrangement as necessary as it was only meant to be temporary.

This is the political arrangement favoured by the Malay conservatives who regard themselves as loyal to the Malay cause. The term Malay conservatism is associated with an unquestioning readiness to rely primarily on the state rather than on private voluntary arrangements to achieve a set of objectives. In the name of welfare and equality for instance, these people favour policies of state intervention and paternalism against the pursuit of the idea of freedom. Those who oppose their views are easily castigated as traitors.

I have written in support of the removal of the rule on 30% equity participation. I have said it is the most undemocratic aspect of the NEP and the most abused. The rule has benefited only the elite, the selected few excluding the ordinary Malay. The common folks don't know anything about this rule. Because of that, I welcome its removal. As to the other aspects which were designed for capacity building turning the Malays into wealth generating agents, I am in full support.

I have expressed my opinion about this matter and have given my reasons for believing so. I expect disagreement over this opinion to be refuted by reasoned argument. There was one particular comment by an anonignoramus (a combination between an anonymous and ignoramus) who stated that by arguing the line which I have taken, I am a traitor and a liberal.

A liberal traitor? That's a new one.

The principal person initiating the removals of these unfair vestiges of the NEP is the PM himself. The outbursts from the Malay anarchist such as the anonignoramus would therefore place the PM squarely in the category of traitor and liberal. That would be an interesting classification.

Obviously this anonignoramus hasn't read my articles on this issue. I have said cleanly that this particular aspect I cannot apply myself to believe- but as to the other aspects of the NEP which build capacity and empower the majority Malays, I am in full agreement.

Let us be clear about this so as not to debate endlessly on a position not taken.

 

A failed Welfare state.

I am sure many of you have heard the phrase- we want a fair society not a welfair society. I am not attributing the quote to anybody because, that in itself can be a contentious starting point. Welfare is for the infirmed, the old, the sick and the debilitated. These people deserved to be on permanent welfare schemes. It is the right thing to do.

Temporary assistance is for those who suffer temporary misfortunes. The wife whose husband who is also the breadwinner has died, wives left by husbands, young and able widows, those who are laid off. These people also deserve temporary assistance. Even orphans received temporary welfare. When they grow older, go to school and become adults, they fend for themselves.

I come back again to the ascriptive or status centric and achieved societies classification. As a reminder, a progressive society is associated with achieved norms. Such a society is characterised by a values system that place prominence on what a person can do, social and function mobility and specific role of individuals. A status cantered or acriptive normed society places a high premium on who you are, social exclusivity and undefined role of the individual.

Let's apply the status centric classification on the 30%equity rule. Who were the ones lucky enough to get the privilege of being allocated shares in listed companies? They would be those who the titled elite, senior civil servants, well connected people, the puteras of the left behind bumis, and so on. In other words you got to be given the allocation because of who you are, to which section of society you belonged and so forth. This would be a perfect example of the practice of ascriptive norms.

I have one term of the Malay who cherishes this arrangement- the Feudal overlord.

Malay political conservatism is therefore is state absolutism in disguise. It holds the state as the absolute arbitrator in the affairs of free Malay people. Accordingly, any questioning and challenges to the state are regarded as a direct challenge to the Malays. This mindset provides the perfect excuse for the political operators to leverage on crass racism.

Hence, when the issue of the death on an aide to a DAP exco became an issue of public interest, this was quickly seized by the Malay feudal overlords as a challenge to the Malay people. When the ISA is being challenged it was met with an aggressive reaction by a group of Malays designating themselves as presumably, the only custodian of Malay heritage.

As a responsible political party,UMNO should distance itself from these brownshirts with black gloves.