Despite the New Economic Policy (NEP) and its successor policies, A Kadir Jasin said the Malays still lagged behind the Chinese and Indians.
"The game of catching up that the NEP intended to achieve had not succeeded.
"Bulk of the expenditure spent to eradicate poverty irrespective of race and to restructure society went to the Chinese long before the bumiputera felt their effects.
"Maybe the Malays are not begging the Chinese as clearly in the economic sphere as they are in politics.
"But we cannot also deny the intricate interdependence between the Chinese and the Malays in the economy," he added in his latest blog posting.
Kadir, who once spearheaded the government mouthpiece the New Straits Times, said the Malays are producers and consumers whereas the Chinese are middlemen and traders.
"The Malays are not consummate consumers. As such whatever is recommended to them by Chinese traders they will buy even at the risk borrowing at exorbitant interest rates.
"Remember
the stories of Malay rubber smallholders buying refrigerators during
the Korean War rubber boom in the early 1950s even though they had no
electricity at home? They apparently used the refrigerators as
cupboards."They are still buying refrigerators and many more electrical goods from the Chinese at exorbitant interest rates.
"But they are also buying those big noisy exhaust pipes and strobe lights to fix to their ageing Proton Saga because the Chinese workshop operators say these accessories are good and make their cars run faster. In short, the Chinese sell, the Malays buy," he added.
Kadir said while the NEP had enlarged the Malay professional class, they are limited to the government sector.
Without government contracts and employment, he added, few can hope to make the grade.
Umno begs, Najib stabbed
As for the political sphere, Kadir said it is Umno that appears to be begging for Chinese votes.
And like all those associated with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for Umno being in the same mendicant predicament at present.
"Being used to enjoying the support of the non-Malays for so long, BN is the one that is more desperate.
If it continues to lose non-Malay support and younger Malays continue to lean towards Pakatan Rakyat, he said, BN could find itself on the opposite side of the House in the coming general election.
Kadir was responding to Mahathir's latest vitriolic spewing about Malay parties being forced to beg the Chinese for votes.
By the look of things, the newsman said, the one that is really begging for Chinese and Indian votes is Umno.
In
taking the customary swipe at Najib, he added that despite fashioning
himself as the prime minister for all and "buttering the Chinese with
gifts of money and entertainment", the Umno leader was rejected in the
polls."This is also one of the reasons putting Najib at odd with members and supporters of his own party. He is portraying himself as being desperate for non-Malay support, especially Chinese, at the expense of the Malays.
"But all his strategies in this direction had not produced results," he added.
In the present situation, Kadir said Malays are neither here nor there and the three-way split has forced all Malay-based parties to appeal to the Chinese to stay in power or to take over power.
He also questioned if the Malays still controlled politics.
"As I have argued repeatedly for decades, the power of the Malays rests with their number. Being in the majority and united, they controlled politics.
"Political control is important to the Malays because they are not on control of the economy. I am speaking in past tense because I am not anymore sure if the Malays still control politics," he said.
Going by the number of Malay elected representatives in Parliament and state legislative assemblies, Kadir said the Malays still dominated by way of arithmetic.
"But do they lead the debate and set the agenda? I am not sure," he added.
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