Aug 15, 2000

Special privileges for all disadvantaged
Kevin Tan

7pm, TUES: There is a need to review the nature and implementation of Bumiputra special privileges to encompass the poor and disadvantaged from other ethnic groups, Parti Rakyat Malaysia president Dr Syed Husin Ali said today.

This step is necessary to prevent the privilege from being abused by a select circle of people close to the powerful in the country to accumulate wealth for themselves, Syed Husin told malaysiakini.

He said that in the name of Malay privileges, a select few which are multi-racial in composition, had enriched themselves.Syed Husin explained that the special privileges were originally a policy aimed at elevating the economic positions of the Malays who were poor and disadvantaged.

"This policy which is embedded in the Constitution can be reviewed from time to time and if necessary retained," he said.The former academician said that the improvement of income, including the issuing of licences and awarding of scholarships, should be based on necessity and also merit, when all other things are equal.

"In other words, they (government assistance) should be for all ethnic groups who are poor and disadvantaged," he said, adding that the matter is no cause for concern as the majority of those who need assistance are Malays or Bumiputras anyway.

"What we should worry about is the practice of using or abusing this policy through corruption, cronyism and nepotism to enrich the small circle of the chosen few," he stressed.Syed Husin was commenting on reports today criticising National Economic Consultative Council (NECC) deputy chairperson David Chua's statements that the Bumiputra special privileges should be abolished.

Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia reported Chua as calling for the government to abolish Malay special rights under its social restructuring policies if Malays were to progress and compete with other races.

'Chua made scapegoat'

Meanwhile, Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua said Chua was made a scapegoat by the Malay broadsheet."The report carried by Utusan Malaysia was irresponsible, seditious and lack journalistic ethics," Tian said in a statement e-mailed to malaysiakini today.

"His suggestions were deliberately misquoted by Utusan Malaysia to insinuate that the bumiputra special rights are being challenged, particularly by the Chinese community," said Tian.Since then, Chua, who is also the Association of Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Malaysia (ACCIM) deputy secretary-general, had written a letter to Utusan clarifying that the news lead as reported by the broadsheet was "not in accordance with the context of the statement he gave to the Utusan journalist."

He also said that the special rights of Malays, as entrenched in the Malaysian Constitution, were not questioned and the matter did not arise in the interview. "It's regrettable that after 43 years of independence, Barisan Nasional is still trying to use racial issues to justify its existence," Tian said, adding that the ruling coalition "has confused the people by assuming all protective economic policies as the Bumiputra special rights."

'Chua only speaking his mind'