I'm half-way through reading the Chinese Dilemma.Very interesting book. Not very objective but definitely very interesting.
I was just reading a news article today on
www.nst.com.my about theplight of the chinese widow who's rubber tapper husband committed suicide after being cheated of a piece of land for RM30,000. It says of the widow named Koh and her deceased husband,Pang:
"Koh, who earns RM600 a month tapping rubber, said she just wanted to forget the episode and get on with her life.Pang's mother, Liew SiongYin, 72, said her late husband had purchased the land for RM14,000 inthe 1970s."We worked hard selling vegetables and eventually managed to save enough money to buy the land."It is the only property we ever had and we later gave it to our eldest son who sold it," she said. ""
The next interesting article was the 7 appointments of the Federal Court Judge and the Court of Appeal. It says;
"According to a source in the Judiciary, three names have been submitted to the Conference of Rulers for positions as Federal Courtjudges, and four for the Court of Appeal.Those listed for the Federal Court are Court of Appeal judges Datuk Arifin Zakaria, Datuk Richard Malanjum, and Datuk Nik Hashim Nik Abd Rahman. Judges listed for the Court of Appeal are High Court judges Datuk James Foong Cheng Yuen, Datuk Azmel Maamor, Datuk Wira Low Hop Bing,and Datin Paduka Zaleha Zahari. According to the source, as of last Friday no name had been submitted for the position of Chief Judge of Malaya, to replace Tan Sri HaidarMohd Noor, who retired on Nov. 8. When contacted, Chief Justice Tan Sri Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halimsaid the appointment of the Chief Judge was "in the process". The list was put together by the Chief which meets tomorrow."
What strikes me on these two articles is whether the New Economic Policy has fulfilled its objectives of equitable distribution of wealth for the Bumiputras and elimination of economic and political function by race.
On equitable distribution of wealth - The story of the Chinese rubber tapper shows that ignorance and poverty strikes all races whether Chinese, Indian or Malay. The Malay people are no longer the poor villagers, the Chinese no longer the cunning business townsfolk and the Indians no longer the rubber tapper railroad workers. As we move forward into the future, would the policies upheld by the NEP be relevant today and if yes, for how long?
On the subject of elimination of economic and political function by race, it is evident from the 2nd article that the racial function still exists today. Non-Bumis are still very uninvolved in governing and civil occupations where as Bumis are slowly and currently doing very well economically - we can tell who is who among the leading businessmen in corporate Malaysia today- CEO of so and so company, Managing Director of so and so holding company... and good for them. But it is evident that although we as Malaysians and are so called 'Bangsa malaysia', supposedly share equal responsibility in the development of the country - be it governance or economic growth etc - there are still some issues not ironed out no matter what everyone says. Why does racial function still exist today and what are we going to do about it?
