The ‘NONS’ missed the boat 20 years ago

ARCHIVES 2012

By MT Webmaster On Mar 4, 2012

So we failed. And today, because of this failure, you have to suffer the pain of post-NEP. But who caused this failure? It is some of those people who are now in Pakatan Rakyat and who 20 years ago were given a chance to end the NEP and plan what post-NEP was going to look like. Today, all these people talk a lot. 20 years ago, when they had a chance to do something, they also talked a lot and did nothing.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

You can read a lot of bitching and whining by the non-Malays if you read the comments in Malaysia Today. I am sure this is not confined just to Malaysia Today but probably can be heard in dinners and gatherings and at coffee shops and eating stalls.

The main bone of contention, of course, is about Malaysia’s ‘institutionalised racism’ policy — meaning, in particular, the New Economic Policy or NEP. And this is what most ‘NONS’ are bitching and whining about, the NEP, which they would like to see ended.

I am actually quite tired of all this bitching and whining. It makes all these people sound like a bunch of losers. And I am tired of it because that is all they do, bitch and whine. But when they had a chance to do something about it they did not.

I was involved in the effort to end the NEP 20 years ago so let me take you down memory lane and impart upon you a bit of Malaysian history. Maybe I can shame you into stopping all this bitching and whining when you realise that the fault lies with the ‘NONS’ themselves.

Of course, I was not alone in this effort. There were many people involved, mostly from Umno and the Malay Chamber of Commerce, which I was a central committee member of.

In 1990, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that the NEP has to end. This was a promise that the government made to the non-Malays, that the NEP would run for 20 years from 1970 to 1990. So, since 1990 is now upon us, the NEP must end as promised.

The Malay Chamber of Commerce was not too happy with this abrupt end.

What abrupt end? Dr Mahathir had already warned us in 1981 when he first became Prime Minister that the NEP had only nine years to go and will end in 1990 as promised. He had already told the Malays and Chinese nine years before that to work together and not force the government to intervene.

But nine years is not really that long. It comes and goes before you realise it. And 1990 has now come and will soon go. But the question is: where do WE go from here?

We decided to hold a convention to explore where we go from there. 1970-1990 was one era. It was a 20-year era of the NEP. The next era post-NEP was a new era that we had to plan to face.

When Dr Mahathir heard that we planned to organise a convention, he instructed Tun (Dr) Ahmad Sarji Bin Abdul Hamid (the Chief Secretary to the Government from 1990 to 1996) to summon us for a meeting. The Malay Chamber asked me to be the spokesman, which I did.

Ahmad Sarji told us that Dr Mahathir wants the government to organise the convention. The Malay Chamber is going to be just a participant and not the organiser. A first we objected but eventually relented. Then Ahmad Sarji informed us that Dr Mahathir wants all the races to participate in the convention. We objected and after a heated debate Ahmad Sarji told us that Dr Mahathir was adamant about the matter and that the decision was final.

I suppose when you have a dictator as a Prime Minister there was very little we could do to object. So we agreed, although reluctantly. Ahmad Sarji explained that the reason the non-Malays must participate in the convention is so that the non-Malays can contribute to the solution and be part of it. Hence the solution would be amicable and palatable to the non-Malays as well and not something shoved down their throats.

I suppose that made sense.

The convention was held in the PWTC and the entire cabinet participated. NGOs, movements, societies, associations, trade unions, political parties (both ruling party and opposition), bankers, professionals, etc., were all invited.

Some people spoke. Many did not. And the non-Malays, in particular those from MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, DAP, PRM, etc., did not come out with any ideas. Basically, it was left to us from the Malay Chamber to clash with Umno (which we did as Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, Anwar Ibrahim and Rafidah Aziz can testify). At times it was almost like a shouting match.

But the non-Malays remained silent. They did not help come out with any solutions. Whether they were from the ruling party or from the opposition, they did not contribute to the three-day forum. So it was left to us to present the 20-point Memorandum to the government — which at first Sanusi did not accept but after I argued the matter he replied, “In the spirit of MCKK I will accept your Memorandum.”

Resulting from that three-day convention, a government committee was set up with representatives from all political parties, chambers of commerce, NGOs, movements, societies, associations, trade unions, etc. In other words, every sector of society was represented even down to the fishermen’s association.

Sadly though, when you get everyone at one table, political, racial and parochial interests take precedence. The forum turned into a political platform for each to outdo the other. Most meetings ended in shouting matches and many meetings even suffered walkouts and boycotts. Instead of coming out with a blueprint on what is going to happen post-NEP, the whole thing was turned into a tournament to see who can look better than the next person.

Finally, nothing happened and Dr Mahathir was so disgusted. “I gave everyone an opportunity to sit down and come out with a formula but all you do is fight. If you can’t agree on a formula then the government will have no choice but to do it instead,” said Dr Mahathir.

Yes, there was a time 20 years ago when we were given an opportunity to come out with a post-NEP formula that would be acceptable to the Malays, Chinese, Indians, natives of East Malaysia, Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PAS, DAP, PPP, PRM, Semangat 46, East Malaysian parties, Malay Chamber, Chinese Chamber, Indian Chamber, NGOs, trade unions, societies, associations, and whatnot. But all they wanted to do was to ‘play politics’ and turn the whole thing into a political battleground. They refused to put politics aside for the sake of the future of the country post-NEP. They refused to sit down as Malaysians instead of as ruling party-opposition or Malays-Chinese-Indians.

Today, many of you younger people bitch and whine. You blame this person and that person. In particular, you blame the Malays and/or Umno. You need to understand what we tried to do to end the NEP. But we were thwarted by those who preferred to ‘play politics’ instead of trying to find a solution on what to do post-NEP.