One reason why the Chinese are angry (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

We speak about justice. But to most Malaysians justice is just about what you receive in court. Justice is not just about the legal system. Justice is also whether the education system has been fair to you. And if it is not fair to you then you have been denied justice.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I always tell my friends that there are two things of great concern to me. One would be the education system and the other the healthcare system. At least that would be my order of priority, mainly because of what age I am. Third, of course, would be my ability to cari makan (earn a living). But, again, at my age, my concern would be my retirement life rather than my working life. Housing would probably tie with cari makan, or at the very least come to a very close fourth.

I rank education as the first item on my list of priorities because that is how you start your life. You start your life by getting educated and unless you receive this education then the rest of your life is not going to be a bed of roses.

Towards the end of your life — like what is happening to me now where I maybe have ten or 15 years left if I am lucky — your health becomes the main concern. Hence that is the second item on my list of priorities.

In between this — say for 40 years from age 20 to age 60 — you need to ‘live’. And to live you need a job or a career. And this job and career would depend on what type of education you received.

So I break up my life into three parcels. Parcel one, the first 20 years or so, you receive an education. Parcel two, the next 40 years, you cari makan. And parcel three, the last 20 years of your life (if you are lucky enough to live till 80), you just need to look after your health (or else you will not reach parcel three and will die during parcel two).

So when I look at a good government, I will measure this ‘good government’ by its policies on education and healthcare. Will this government provide good and cheap (or better still, free) education and healthcare? Are the education and healthcare systems comparable or better than those in the advanced countries? (We must remember that just because a certain country is ‘advanced’, say like the US, this does not mean that its education and/or healthcare system are anything to shout about).

Once we are assured of these two very basic and very crucial services, we then need to consider the job and career opportunities that the government or country can offer its citizens so that we can have a decent lifestyle and quality of life. However, if we are not educated (or not well-educated) and our health suffers, how well the economy may be doing and how much job opportunities there are is no bloody good to us. We will either be too unqualified to get a job or too sick to cari makan anyway.

Once we are a recipient of a good education and our health is well looked after, plus we have a decent home and a reasonably good car to move around and to get to work, we will start looking at the other features of a ‘good’ government. And these would be, of course, good governance, transparency, accountability, no or minimum corruption, press freedom, freedom of choice (regarding religion, sexual orientation, association, etc.), no discrimination and persecution (based on race, religion and gender), a good legal system (good and just laws, independence of the judiciary, etc.), and so on.

Ideally, we would want ALL OF THE ABOVE. Nevertheless, while I too want all of the above, what I am mentioning here is my list of priorities — what comes first and what comes later. We need first to be educated and healthy to enjoy good governance, transparency, accountability, no or minimum corruption, press freedom, freedom of choice (regarding religion, sexual orientation, association, etc.), no discrimination and persecution (based on race, religion and gender), a good legal system (good and just laws, independence of the judiciary, etc.), and so on. If we are not armed with a good education and are suffering from, say leprosy, no good government is of any use to us.

We speak about justice. But to most Malaysians justice is just about what you receive in court. Justice is not just about the legal system. Justice is also whether the education system has been fair to you. And if it is not fair to you then you have been denied justice.

Justice is also about whether when you are sick you are given medical treatment. If you need to be a millionaire before you can afford treatment, and if you are poor then you will die, that is not justice. Why can only the rich be given medical treatment while the poor need to die because they do not have money for medical treatment? And this happens in even the so-called advanced countries.

To the Chinese, the first item, education, is very important. If you get through that first level, then the second and final levels can take care of themselves. With a good education, the second part of your life (20 to 60) will be smooth sailing and once you reach the final part of your life (after 60), and with savings of at least RM3 million in the bank, you will be able to look after your health even if you need to pay for the healthcare yourself.

And that is what you will need to retire on at today’s standard and cost of living once you reach 60 — RM3 million. This will increase as we go along, of course, and by 2030 it will have to be more than RM3 million. But if you retired today that is what you need if you are going to live for at least another 15 or 20 years — RM3 million.

But how do you accumulate RM3 million in savings if you work in McDonalds or earn only RM2,000 a month? You can’t even pay for your living expenses let alone save RM3 million over 40 years.

RM3 million over 40 years is RM75,000 a year or RM6,250 a month. So you need to earn at least RM10,000-15,000 a month and with the income/dividends on your EFP savings you may eventually see RM3 million in your account by the time you retire at age 60. (I am just doing a rough calculation here so please do not split hairs on the figures).

So, unless you have a good tertiary education, there is no way you can earn RM10,000 a month or more. And if you can’t earn RM10,000 or more a month then you will not have RM3 million in your EPF by the time you retire at age 60. And that means it is bad news for you.

Furthermore, you need to set aside at least RM300,000 for each kid to enter university (for at least three years) and RM1 million if this kid does medicine. And if you have five children, like many Malay families do, me included, you need millions just to see all your kids through university (I know because I paid for my kids university education in the UK from my own pocket).

And this is one major bone of contention to the Chinese. The Chinese need to dig deep into their pockets to send their children to an overseas university. Then they see the Malay kids in overseas universities receiving government aid even though some (or many) of these Malay kids do not quite make the grade.

If I were Chinese I would be upset. Even as a Malay I am upset because I have had to spend a lot of my own money putting my kids though college/university at my own expense. Then I see the kids of the Yang Berhormat, Tan Sri, Datuk Seri, Datuk, and so on enjoying their life in the UK at taxpayers’ expense and bringing home Mercedes Benzes and BMWs when they return to Malaysia.

The government (whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat) has to understand this. And, of course, the Chinese blame the New Economic Policy (NEP) for this great injustice. But the government is not about to abolish the NEP. The NEP is a powerful political tool. It keeps Umno in power and if abolished Umno will be out of power.

Even Pakatan Rakyat will not dare abolish the NEP. If they do that would be the end of Malay support for Pakatan Rakyat. At best Pakatan Rakyat can declare that it will review the NEP and make it fairer and more equitable, without giving any specific details.

Okay, in what way is the NEP going to be made fairer and more equitable? Will UiTM be opened up to the non-Malays? Will 40-50% of places in local universities be opened up to the Chinese, Indians, Orang Asal and natives of East Malaysia? Would 50% of students sent overseas be from the non-Malay community?

Yes, what are the details of this fairer and more equitable NEP?

And note that I am only talking about education, the first item on my list of priorities. I am yet to talk about places in the civil service, business opportunities, licences, permits, quotas, plus a host of other things.

And before you start posting comments accusing me of asking you to vote for BN or saying that you are still going to vote Pakatan Rakyat and scream ABU and so on, this article is not about that. It is about justice. And justice, or the lack of it, is colour-blind.

其中一个让华人很生气的原因

我们经常提到正义/公正。对很多马来西亚人来说，正义/公正只局限于法庭内。其实，正义不应该只限于司法系统内。正义也取决于教育系统。如果你得不到公平的教育机会，那根本毫无（社会）正义可言。

原文：Raja Petra Kamarudin

译文：方宙

我常跟我朋友谈及两样我认为很重要的东西，一为教育，二为医疗，第三才是‘找吃carimakan’（这个顺序很大原因跟我的年龄有关）。当然，身为一个退休人士，我看重的当然是我的退休生活而不是我的工作环境。房屋一般来讲跟赚钱有很大关系，但如果要把它们分开的话，房屋会是第四重要的。

我把教育列为第一，因为一个人未来的生活都视乎于他所受的教育。你的生活是被你学到的东西所定型的，所以，除非你学习东西不然你的生活将会不大好过。

当你年迈了—-正如我一般，我还有个10年就偷笑了—-你的健康将会逐渐成为你主要考虑的问题。所以，我把医疗列为第二。

期间，你需要‘生活’。你要生活你就必须工作/有事业，而你的事业很大取决于你受的教育。

所以，我把人生归纳为三个阶段。第一个阶段，在你出生后的二十年里，你开始接受教育。第二阶段，往后的40年里，你开始‘找吃’。最后的二十年里，你只需要关注你的健康（假设你在前60年都有关注你的健康，你才能走到第三阶段）。

所以当我评估一个好的政府时，我会以他们的教育与医疗方针为主。这个政府会提供有素质且便宜（最好是免费啦）的教育与医疗吗？它的教育与医疗系统能够媲美先进国吗？（当然，这也不是说所有先进国的教育或医疗系统都是很好的，如美国的医疗系统）

当我们有了这两个基本且重要的元素以后，我们就要考虑这个政府有没有能力提供就业机会促使国民过上安稳的生活。如果我们都是没有教育且身弱的一群，那不管经济多强，就业机会多好，对我们来说都是没用的。因为我们根本就没有资历或体力去‘找吃’。

所以说，在拥有了良好的教育与健康，加上安定的住处和便捷的交通工具（以移动和上班）后，我们才应该开始注重政府的其他问题。这包括管理能力，透明度，信用，廉政度，资讯自由度，选择权自由度（宗教，性取向，社会团体等等），公平治国（针对种族，宗教，性别），司法方针（公平的法律，司法自由）等。

在一个理想的环境中，能够拥有所有以上当然是最好的。然而，虽然我也想要全部，我们还是得懂得分先后：哪一项我们应该先达到，哪一项后达到。我们必须先拥有良好的教育与健康，尔后才能拥有管理佳，有信用，清廉，容许资讯自由，尊重个人自由，一视同仁，司法公正。。。等的政府。

我们经常提到正义/公正。对很多马来西亚人来说，正义/公正只局限于法庭内。其实，正义不应该只限于司法系统内。正义也取决于教育系统。如果你得不到公平的教育机会，那根本毫无（社会）正义可言。

正义也取决于，当你生病时，你能否享受医疗设施。如果你必须是个百万富翁才有人为你治病的话，而如果你是个穷光蛋就必须等死的话，那也是不正义的。为何只有富人才能得到医疗而穷人因为没有钱而必须等死呢？这发生在很多所谓的发达国家。

对华人来说，教育是非常重要的。只要你把第一阶段过好了，第二和第三阶段就会过得很顺利。有了很好的教育，你生活的第二段（20-60岁）将会一帆风顺。而当你进入第三段时，若你已存有300万令吉，基本上你得健康就有保障了，即使你必须付自己的医疗费。

300万令吉，这就是你60岁退休的数目（以今天的生活水平来讲）。当然这个数目会随着时间而增加，如2030年的退休金肯定会高过300万令吉。但如果说你今天就退休而还会活多15-20年的话，你就需要300万令吉。

设想你现在在麦当劳打工，抑或你一个月只赚2000令吉，请问你要怎么才能存到300万？你连你日常生活也顾不了呢！

40年内存300万，即每年需存7万5千，或每月6250令吉。换句话说，你的月收入必须是1-1.5万，然后你的公积金存款+利息才能在60岁达标。（以上只是我粗略的计算，请别再这数目上转牛角尖）

所以，除非你有很好的大学文凭，不然你很难月入1万/以上，你的公积金也无法在你60岁时达到300万。

除此之外，你还要为每位孩子拨出30万的大学教育费（医学则需100万）。如果你，就像一般马来家庭般，有五名小孩（我就是），你至少得准备上百万。（这点我很清楚，因为我从自己的口袋出钱让我孩子在英国读大学）

这是其中一个华人最大争论的焦点。他们都花了很多钱送他们的孩子上国外大学，然后他们看到很多马来人在国外都拿政府奖学金，而当中有些马来小孩的成绩是不太好的。

如果我是华人我当然很生气。身为马来人我也已经很生气了，因为我必须自己花钱送我孩子进大学，然后我就看到那些YB，丹斯里，拿督斯里，拿督等的小孩拿着人民的钱在英国享福，然后大摇大摆得驾辆马赛地或宝马回国。

政府（不管国阵民联）必须看清楚这一点。华人当然会讲着都是新经济政策（New Economic Policy ，NEP）的错，但政府是不会废除NEP的。NEP是个很厉害的政治工具，它能让巫统继续掌权，所以如果巫统废除NEP的话，它就会立刻下台。

即使民联也不敢废除NEP。他们这样做就代表他们完全放弃马来人的支持。他们顶多只敢宣布他们会从新审查NEP以让它更为公平，但他们不会给任何太详细的细节。

好了，请问NEP必须怎样才算更加公平呢？开放UiTM （Mara大学）给非马来人？开放40-50%的本地大学学位给华人，印度人，原住民？50%海外大学学位必须给非马来人？

是的，‘更加公平’的细节是什么？

请注意，我们现在谈到的只是教育问题，是我所有关注问题中的第一项。我还没开始谈及公务员，商业机会，执照，准证，固打。。。。等等其他课题。

在你开始诬赖我怂恿你把票投给巫统，或开始大喊ABU。。。等等前，我要告诉你，这篇文章的中心点是‘正义与公正’。而正义与公正，他们都是色盲的。