The Myth of Special Malay Privileges

Since Independence in 1957 but more so since he inception of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1970, the issue of Special Malay Rights have been a hot topic of discussion. It attracts the attention of so many people, both the Malays (who are supposed to be the recipients of the rights) and the non-Malays (who are supposed to be discriminated against) love talking about it. However, the government of the day has found it convenient to disallow any open discussion on the subject. As such, the real issues never see the light of day. In their places, there have been assumptions, presumptions, myths and sometimes blatant lies being bandied around.

Before I continue any further let me put the record straight. As far as I can recall I'm a beneficiary of this rights on 3 occasions. First, when I was given a Federal Minor scholarship to study in an English secondary school without having to pay the RM9 monthly fee. Second, when I was offered a scholarship to study overseas by MARA (which I had to repay part of it) and third was when I bought a house in late 80s and got 7% Bumiputra discount.

I offer no apologies for getting the scholarships as I came from a poor family. My father was a policeman in Singapore earning about $400 per month and I lived with my grandfather who toils his 3-acre rubber plantation and I have 8 other siblings. I went to a High School where Malays represent about 30% of the students population and from Form 1 to Form 5, I was always in the best class out of about 8-10 classes per form. I graduated among the top 3% of the graduating class from a university in USA. I will be forever thankful for being given the scholarship by the government failing which I think I would not have been able to afford to pursue my tertiary education.

After working for almost 30 years, dutifully contributing to the growth of the country either through my work or my taxes, how come I'm feeling so disillusioned? When the topic of Special Malay Rights is brought up, how come I'm the one feeling guilty as though I'm part of the group that is monopolizing the wealth of the country at the expense of other deserving citizens just because they are not of the same race as me? And I have many more questions.

>How come I did not get any Bumi shares when I know a few people who repeatedly got them and sold them off after a few months? In fact, I have not even got hold of the famous "pink forms"
>How come I did not get any APs to import cars when some people can have thousands?
>How come I did not receive grants to start a business when I have an Honors degree in Finance when some Malays who knows next to nothing about business get millions but still fail in their business?
>How come I was not given any "direct nego" contracts when I tried going into business a few years ago?
>How come I did not get any "easy" loan from Bank Bumiputra which I heard was the cause of it having to be rescued a few times? The one time I stood guarantee for a friend to buy a lorry to start his business but was unable to pay, I was harrassed by the bank until they put my name in CTOS making it impossible for me to apply for loan even though I'm now paying more than RM2k in income taxes monthly?
>How come there are so many Malays in the villages that are still living in poverty? If you do not believe me, watch the TV program, "Bersama Mu"

There are many more "how comes" that I can come up with but the above should suffice. Frankly, I'm not too concerned about not getting the so-called Malay privileges. By the Grace of God, I think I can now survive in this world on my own accord. After all, I do not need more than 2 cars, more than one terraced house, an overseas holidays every year, etc. So, I am quite contented. But what I cannot stomach is every time the subject of special Malay privileges is brought up I'm looked at as being a beneficiary just because I'm a Malay, a Bumiputra. A non-Malay friend of mine can say that "you Melayu senang lah". My friend, let me tell you the truth, I'm not the Melayu that had it easy. There maybe some Melayus that fall into the category but certainly not me. So, please don't look at me as one of those that had deprived you of your rights. When I get a promotion, it is as though I got it because the company has to promote a Malay not because I have done a good job. Just imagine this, when I do well, it is BECAUSE I am a Malay but when a non-Malay does well he did it DESPITE being non-Malay. How can we continue living like this?

Can we just stop all these crap about special Malay privileges and put in place special privileges for the poor? I'm very sure if we do this, out of the 100 poor people we help, 70% would be Malays the balance will be other races. At least nobody would begrudge us for helping the poor Malays and not the multimillionaire Malays just because they are Malays. Maybe then, nobody can look at me and think that I'm able to get this far just because I'm a Malay.

Before anybody accuse me of being ungrateful for the special Malay privilege that I got before, let me reiterate here that I'm so thankful for it and I thank the government then that helped people like me. But just a reminder, I was so sure that I deserve the help. My parents were poor and I was qualified, so I'm not at all ashamed. In fact those days, the country is not even rich. Oil has not been discovered yet in the country but the leaders then had the vision to help us by giving us the opportunity through education.

I can go on and on but.... it is sickening, Can't we do something? I'm sure we can.