Who benefits from bumiputera discounts?

By Tarani Palani | The Nut Graph

“Jadi adalah wajar diskaun kepada bumiputera untuk pemilikan hartanah ini tidak dikekalkan kerana ia melibatkan nilai yang tinggi…Maknanya, bumiputera perlu berdikari dalam soal pemilikan hartanah berkenaan.”

PETALING Jaya Utara Member of Parliament (MP) Tony Pua suggesting to the Selangor government to remove the 7% bumiputera discount for residential and commercial property above RM500,000.  Pua, who is also economic adviser to the DAP secretary-general, argued that those who could afford such high-end properties did not need to be supported by affirmative action. He added that the discount could lead to profiteering where bumiputera who enjoyed such discounts could then sell the property at a much higher price. (Source: Mansuhkan diskaun hartanah bumiputera, Utusan Malaysia, 26 July 2010)

“If we are suggesting that such discount should continue, are we suggesting that rich Malays like Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail or Dato’ Seri Nazir Tun Razak, who earn six-figure or seven-figure monthly income, also qualify for the seven percent discount whenever they buy any residential property above RM500,000 or commercial property above RM2 million, even though they [can] afford to pay the market price?”

Kampung Tunku assemblyperson and DAP member Lau Weng San agreeing with Pua’s suggestion. Lau argued that the bumiputera discount policy was to encourage house ownership as most “under-privileged Bumiputeras live in rented property”. However, he said, high-income bumiputera were “financially sound” and able to compete in the open market. (Source: 7% Bumiputera discount for high-end property should go, Lau Weng San’s blog, 30 July 2010)

“I’m asking YB Tony Pua not to play with fire…Don’t even light a match.”

Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan warning Pua. He said Pua’s proposal totally disregarded the sensitivity of Malay Malaysians and the bumiputera who comprised two thirds of the population.
Maslan argued that the current bumiputera ownership of shop houses and business premises in urban areas was only 14%, and doing away with the discount would worsen the situation. He declared that Pua’s suggestion was one among DAP’s long list of suggestions made to question Malay and bumiputera privileges. (Source: Ahmad Maslan to Tony Pua: Don’t play with fire, Bernama as quoted in Malaysiakini, 1 Aug 2010)

“I concede that it may not remain forever but at the moment, it (abolition of the discount) is not appropriate yet.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak clarifying that although Pua’s proposal fell under state jurisdiction, the federal government itself had no plans to review the bumiputera discount.  He also warned DAP against placing pressure on Malay Malaysians and bumiputera as this could lead to anger and dissatisfaction. (Source: Government Does Not Want Other Graduate Officers To Be Involved In Politics — Najib, Bernama, 28 July 2010)

“Tetapi hakikatnya, sekiranya kita melihat kepada pegangan hartanah Bumiputera di setiap peringkat, angkanya jauh ketinggalan berbanding kaum lain. Statistik pada tahun 2007 menunjukkan peratus pemilikan bangunan oleh Bumiputera cuma 15.7 peratus. Bagi hartanah komersial pula, Bumiputera hanya memiliki sekitar 29.2 peratus untuk kompleks perniagaan dan serendah 3.5 peratus untuk premis perindustrian. Statistik ini menggambarkan suatu ketidakseimbangan yang terlalu ketara.”

Rembau MP and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin arguing that although Pua’s suggestion made theoretical sense, when compared to the overall figures, Malay Malaysian and bumiputera ownership still lagged behind the other races. He added that abolishing the discount would widen the inter-racial economic gap.
Khairy said removing the discount would also deny bumiputera the opportunity to own property in strategic locations. He added that a moratorium could be imposed on the reselling of such property to prevent profiteering. (Source: Isu ‘ Diskaun Bumiputera’, Khairy Jamaluddin’s blog, 29 July 2010)

“If the Government has no intention to reform its affirmative action policies as it stands today, then the Prime Minister and UMNO leaders should stop the hypocrisy and pretense that the Government is going to implement a ‘New Economic Model’ which will be based on ‘market-friendly’ or ‘merit-based programmes’. It’ll only prove to investors that the Government is ‘all talk, no action’ and that the Barisan Nasional is completely incapable of change, much less the transformation that is required to take us to a developed nation status by 2020.”

Pua questioning the government’s sincerity in implementing the New Economic Model (NEM). He said Najib was backtracking from implementing the NEM’s “affirmative action approach” that was based on needs, not race. Pua said it was a contradiction to award affirmative action discounts to “wealthy individuals who could afford properties in the range of millions of ringgit”. (Source: Where’s NEM’s “Market-Friendly” Affirmative Action Programme?, Tony Pua’s blog, 3 Aug 2010)