///KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed today the need to eventually do away with Bumiputera quotas but said the government must continue to support the community’s best talent to ensure a more competitive business environment.///–Najib
Article 153 was included in the constitution so that those who were placed in the special position of needing support lest they disappear from this world, among the Malay. Article 153 did not consider it the government duty to support the best talents, of any community. The action Najib wishes to pursue is his own ideas, and it is not in upholding the constitution. That should stop when the next government takes over.

///The prime minister pointed out that the New Economic Model (NEM) promotes affirmative action based more on meritocracy, saying “we must promote the right Bumiputera”.///–Najib
In pursuance of the constitution, the right Malays who need support are those who are weak. The constitution does not recognize the term bumiputras.

///He said offering quotas would promote complacency, hamper economic growth and bury Bumiputera talent.

“What we have done in the past is we have not promoted the right kind of people.///–Najib
Article 153 was subject to review after 15 years in 1972 had Razak not amended the constitution. The parliament in its wisdom would have spelt out the action to take to make this country a developed nation both in social and economic fields. As it was, the racial polarization policies offered professional politicians the opportunities to loot the nation and to send it to be among the least developed in Asia.

///“We want to do away from (with) quotas but we must support them (Bumiputera entrepreneurs) in a way that would allow them to grow,” he told the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2011 here this evening.//–Najib
The policy of setting any quota based on race was in support of the divide and rule regime. That was meant to ensure that political parties in power continue to be in power in perpetuity. NEP was established on the argument that the Malays were envious of the economic success of the non-Malays. But Razak should have realized that there were poor non-Malays and there were rich Malays. Thus if Malays can be jealous of rich Chinese, they too can be jealous of rich Malays. Only racist would consider it reasonable for Malays to be jealous of non-Malays who were better than they were in life, and would not be jealous of Malays in similar situation simply because they were Malays. Razak might have harbored that thought and thus he is the first racist prime minister of Malaysia.
///“If we give them quotas, what will happen is that they will rest on their laurels and eventually, they will not gain expertise,” he added.///–Najib
Najib talks as though there were only Malays who are citizens of Malaysia. The quota mentioned in article 153 was meant to support the weak. After the initial period of experimenting with self-rule as independent nation when racial rivalry needed the quota system to set them on equal footing, the people should have been allowed to live as equal citizens. Yet Najib tries to justify that quota was a right, but there were other means to make Malays one up on other races. Najib should harbor the right thought rather than doing something right for the wrong reasons.

///Najib said the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target “does not mean anything”, particularly if entrepreneurs decide to sell off their shares when prices soar, leaving little in the hands of the Bumiputeras.///–Najib
It is better late than never that Najib has come to this conclusion, but he does get it wrong too. In the memorandum item on NEP, it was considered that Malays should have 30% share in the participation of economic activities. The EPU of the PM department quantifies such participation as ownership of equity shares in limited companies. That statistical objective was then converted to become the convenient easy money schemes where government forced corporations to allocate shares to Malays below market price. They would be fools if they did not sell their shares when prices soar, to change to other investments. The government was clearly wrong to insist that the 30% was computed based on the stock position rather than on the flows. Indeed since all listed companies had to allocate 30% to Malays, the target of 30% had long been achieved at the end of 1990. Yet, the government pretended that the objective had not been achieved. If the government would make an accounting, it would have concluded that despite Malays selling their shares for instant profit over the past 40 years, Malays still have more than 30% of equity share capital in the corporate sector. Najib is too smart to realize that once that proper accounting is done, NEP had to stop if the UMNO government does not want to be said to negate on the promise Razak made 40 years. So Najib now ‘relaxes’ the 30% rule and pretends that NEP target had not been reached. He can come back for another bite on NEP target.
///He said the government was now moving on a different footing by seeking “good, tested and dedicated” Bumiputeras and supporting them in a manner that could help them become more competitive.

As an example, Najib mentioned Teraju’s recently launched programme to train 1,100 top small, micro and medium-sized Bumiputera companies under a special entrepreneurship programme as one of the government’s new initiatives.

“That is the new approach — to create a new class of Bumiputeras who are more resilient and can succeed in the long run,” he said.///–Najib
Having found a new approach, would Najib announce that all other race-based quota in all economic fields such as business licenses and taxi permits are removed? Indeed, taxi permits were more like Malay’s monopoly rather than given out based on racial quota.

///Critics have accused Najib of diluting his NEM by creating agencies like Teraju and failing to focus on needs and merit-based affirmative action policies but government officials said the move was necessary as Bumiputera equity in the economy remained low despite the billions doled out since the New Economic Policy (NEP) began in 1971.///–Najib
How does that square with Najib’s claim that the 30% means nothing? Malays have gained funds selling their share since NEP began 1971. The capitals which are not included in the perverted government statistics shows only that that statistical item is irrelevant! When the cake is given and eaten, it is unfair to ask for more.

///In his speech earlier, Najib also expressed a need for the government to remove “rigidities within the system” in order to create a more resilient economy.

“We know that people do not start in the same place… we know that everyone is not equally endowed… we know too that there will be winners and losers when things change – and of course we worry about those who deserve assistance more than those who could easily get by with less,” he said.///–Najib
But the government seems to think that only Malays have the above constraints. If Najib accepts that humans of all races embody those characteristics, the so-called social engineering based on race is wrong. But then UMNO knows it all along. UMNOputras utilize it to manipulate the system of democratic elections to remain in power and to please themselves with that power.

///“Equally, we want to see winners who find their lives and the lives of their families transformed rather than simply enriching those who already have too much,” he added.///–Najib
How was it possible for the government to make those to have too much, and yet remains in power? we wonder!