'Special privileges' should include all poor, not only Malays
- Syed Husin

Parti Rakyat Malaysia president Dr Syed Husin Ali has dismissed the current debate among UMNO leaders about the Malays' "special rights", saying there is no such term in the Malaysian constitution, and urged the policy of "special privileges" to be also extended to include other ethnic groups who are also poor and disadvantaged.

Explaining it further, Dr Syed Husin, a renowned sociologist, said although Article 153 refers to "the special position of Malays and natives" of Sabah and Sarawak concerning reservation of quotas for them in certain fields, a sub-section of the article (153-9) stresses that the clause does not empower Parliament to "restrict business or trade solely for the purpose of reservations for Malays and natives of any of the states of Sabah and Sarawak"

Dr Syed Husin was commenting on criticisms in several pro-UMNO Malay-language dailies over comments by Deputy Chair of the National Economic Council II, David Chua, urging Malay "special privileges" to be abolished in future. He however warned that the papers' hidden intention was "to arouse the sensitivities of the Malays", thereby hoping to mobilise support for UMNO, whose support among Malays is now at an all-time low following the slander on its jailed former deputy president Anwar Ibrahim.

Several UMNO leaders have even gone to the extent of alluding to the May 13 racial riots recurring if the "special rights" were abolished. "There is no harm in a level headed discussion or rational review of the matter. The danger is when such discussion or review is injected with unnecessary and dangerous racial motives or threats to serve certain narrow and selfish political agendas," he added.

"Positive discrimination"

Dr Syed Husin said the the concept of "special position" for the Malays was originally introduced with to help to alleviate the condition of the Malays economically, socially and educationally, who at that time were largely poor and lagged behind in all economic and social sectors.

He described the policy as a form of "positive discrimination" to achieve socio-economic balance among the various ethnic groups in order to maintain inter-ethnic harmony and national unity. Although the concept of "special position" is embedded in the Constitution, Dr Syed Husin said it does not mean it cannot be reviewed for all time as "many things have changed in the country since it was introduced.

" He suggested that some clauses in Article 153 be amended if they are found to be no longer suitable.

Merit

On the question of merit as opposed to privilege, Dr Syed Husin agreed that merit cannot be totally excluded, but added it can be considered only when other factors are equal. Referring to the award of educational scholarships, he said merit cannot be the sole factor as students come from different backgrounds.

Thus, the achievement level of a poor student from an estate with poorly equipped schools and who cannot afford private tuition, will generally be lower than his counterpart from a rich family in an elite school.

Cronyism disguised as "Malay rights"

Dr Syed Husin urged for a rethink of the nature and implementation of the Malay special position policy, saying it has been increasingly abused to enable a selected circle of people "close to the most powerful in the country" to accumulate wealth for themselves.

"In the name of the Malay or Bumiputera special position or privilege, a small group of people has become wealthy and powerful through corruption, cronyism and nepotism. This group is not confined only to the Malays but multi-ethnic in composition," he stressed, adding that the objective should be to serve the interests of the poor and disadvantaged Malays.

Focus on poor, not Malays

But Dr Syed Husin reminded that it is not just the Malays who are poor and disadvantaged - Chinese, Indians and indigenous communities are also in this category. "They are also citizens of the country. Focusing only on the Malay poor and disadvantaged groups, and neglecting their non-Malay counterparts, can and has caused much ethnic dissatisfaction and tension," he said.

"The point is that, while reserving special position for the Malays/Bumiputera, there should be no neglect of their counterparts who are also in poor and disadvantaged condition. There should not be any worry over this, because at present the poor and disadvantages Malays are in the majority anyhow.

"What we should worry more about is the abuse of the Malay special position to satisfy the greed of a powerful few, rather than serving the need of the weak majority," he added.