PSM: RM30bil bumi allocation unfair to poor bumis

Affirmative action based on ethnicity is not only unfair to the poor and marginalised of other ethnic groups but also unfair to the poor in the same ethnic group as well, said a Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader.

"It creates a situation where the poverty of the poorer bumiputeras is used to justify allocations that ultimately will help the richest bumiputeras, and those closest to the people in power," Dr D Jeyakumar said in a statement today. 

He was responding to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's recent announcement of the RM30 billion allocation to boost the bumiputera economic status.
              
Jeyakumar said PSM accepted affirmative action as a valid and necessary policy option for government.

"Poorer communities and the people marginalised by development should be helped by society. This is a moral imperative.

"PSM also agrees that the upliftment of poorer communities cannot be left to 'market forces'.

"We reject the notion that private companies operating for profit will somehow generate 'trickle-down' effects that will alleviate the poverty of the marginalised sectors," he added.

However, Jeyakumar said PSM had serious reservations about the "Bumiputra Empowerment Agenda" announced by Najib because "our experience in Malaysia had showed us that affirmative action based on ethnic criteria invariably benefitted the better off groups within that ethnic group far more than the poor in that community."

He noted that there were now around 60,000 bumiputera Class E and F contractors registered with the government.

"It is quite likely that they will receive a larger portion of this RM30 billion than the two million bumiputera farmers in Sarawak and Sabah.

"Around 60 percent of Malay households have a family income of less than RM2,000 per month. It is quite likely that children from the 15 percent of Malay households with monthly incomes of more than RM5,000 will receive a far larger share of the RM30 billion allocated for bumiputeras than the children from the bottom 60 percent of the Malay households," he said.

Creating a feeling of resentment
Jeyakumar said the government should embark on affirmative action to help marginalised groups but the criteria for inclusion into these programmes should be socio-economic status and not ethnicity.

"Only then will the targeted group – the poor, receive the main portion of the funds allocated. Such an approach that reaches out to the poor of all communities will have the added benefit of building solidarity among the ethnic groups and enhancing harmony in our multi-racial population.

"A RM30 billion allocation would have gone a long way towards helping the poor in Malaysia as well as in building national solidarity and a common Malaysian identity," he added.

Jeyakumar said it was a pity that Umno was unable to think outside the racist framework, which would lead to the frittering of the rakyat's RM30 billion in projects and programmes that would mainly benefit the cronies and the politically well-connected Malay elite.

In return, he said, this would create a feeling of resentment and bitterness among the poor of all races.

"Najib's announcement which came two days prior to Malaysia Day made the Malaysia Day celebration and nation-building a joke.

"It is clear that under BN, racist politics will continue and a truly fair and equitable Malaysian society will never see the light of day," he added.

Focus on urban, suburban divide
PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin said the government should strive to overcome the economic woes of the country based on those who need help, across racial lines

This, he said, was akin to the Malaysian Economic Agenda once proposed by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, which was "more refreshing, and much more needed" in Malaysia.

"The measures recently announced by the prime minister only confirms that Umno-BN has failed to find a new formula to address the problems faced by the bumiputeras.

"While highlighting the economic disparity between the races, what is not stressed is the true spirit to eradicate poverty across races and reduce the economic divide," he added in a statement.

He noted that more than 300,000 families, or more than one million Malaysians - comprising bumiputeras, including from Sabah and Sarawak, Orang Asli, Indians as well as Chinese - were affected by poverty.

Hence, he said the government should instead focus on the varying costs of living between the urban and suburban divide.

The government too, he added, was "morally obligated" to explain what became of the RM52 billion-worth of shares allocated to bumiputera shareholders, as to date, only RM2 million of the initial RM54 billion allocated, is left in bumiputera hands.