Missing the mark on special privileges
SEEING IT MY WAY<br>M Bakri MusaPublished: Jan 2, 2001 4:00 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Merdeka Day warning on the dangers of extremism reflects how quickly discussions on such sensitive issues as special privileges can degenerate.
His stern remarks were prompted by the purported demands by Suqiu, a coalition of Chinese organisations, to abolish special privileges for Bumiputras. This precipitated a ballistic response from Umno Youth, and from thereon the controversy rapidly went downhill.
As subsequent developments amply demonstrate, such controversies are not only highly divisive but detract from the more difficult task at hand: making all Malaysians competitive. Is preferential policy the solution or the problem?
A year ago then education minister Najib Razak lamented that without quotas, Malays would constitute only about five percent of local undergraduates. I expected his remark to stimulate deep soul searching; instead there were shrill calls for increasing the quota, that is, more of the same stalled strategy.
Even if the government were to expand special privileges and make, for example, our civil service and public universities exclusively for Bumiputras, that would evoke minimal resistance.
Sure, there would be rabble-rousing rhetoric from the likes of Lim Kit Siang, but for most Malaysians life would go on. Observe how Chinese leaders are now desperately disassociating themselves from Suqiu. Significantly, such an expansion would have little practical impact on non-Bumiputras. Few now want to be policemen, soldiers or teachers. And with the proliferation of private colleges, there would be no shortage of non-Bumiputra graduates.
Instead of being destructively consumed with envy and jealousy, non-Bumiputras have shrewdly learned to be motivated by these exclusionary practices. They have also wisely concluded that if special privileges are the price they have to pay for peace and stability, so be it. They rationalise it as society's protection money, evil but necessary.
Revamp education and training
For Bumiputras, however, expansion of special privileges in their present form would be disastrous. Our public universities, now on a downward slide, would accelerate their decline. Our civil service already lags the private sector; imagine if it is made more insular.
Among bright and talented young Malays, government jobs are not even on their radar screen, their horizons extending far beyond. Their's are to join the Intels and JP Morgans of the world, not the civil service, Pernas or UDA.
The single most important avenue for enhancing competitiveness is through education and training. Unfortunately today, Malays have the highest school dropout rates. Our students pursue subjects that ill equip them for the modern economy. They flock to religious schools, where indoctrination masquerades as education, and the obsession deep into the hereafter.
The solution is not to close these madrasahs but to modernise them. Church affiliated schools and colleges in America produce their share of the nation's scholars, scientists, and executives. Harvard started out to train clergymen but is now famous for other than its divinity school.
Our religious schools must be revamped so that Islamic Studies is only one of many subjects, not the consuming curriculum. These students must be taught English, science, and mathematics. And if they later become ulama, they will be better for it. They can then do more than merely chant Arabic incantations when faced with the problems of their flock.
Our rural schools are a disgrace. Upgrade them with air-conditioned classrooms, plentiful computers, and decent teachers' quarters. Double the teachers' pay if that is what it takes to attract them.
As most of these students are poor, I would provide breakfast, snacks and lunches, as in the US. With air-conditioned classrooms, extend the school hours. Have the students stay in the afternoon to do their studying and homework, and to take part in extra-curricular activities. When they go home it is only to sleep and enjoy family life.
For those not academically inclined, I would have vocational schools that are closely tied to industry, fashioned along the German "Dual System", Train Malays to be mechanics, plumbers and electricians rather than squandering money on Rakan Muda, Bina Negara and other faddish public works exercises.
Reward bright Malays handsomely. If they are smart enough to be admitted to top-rank universities, for example, they should automatically get scholarships.
But please, no more rewarding mediocrity by sending students to expensive third-rate foreign institutions. Our students will respond if we demand higher expectations.
In awarding public contracts and shares, I would favour those who are technically trained as a means of showing our respect and appreciation for their efforts.
Expensive remedy? Yes, but consider the alternative, with these youngsters becoming non-productive dregs of society. Actually the cost would be minuscule compared with the billions expended by Danaharta in bailing out Bumiputra corporations.
If we spend more on schools and less on coddling inept entrepreneurs, we would be ahead. The failure of these companies is no reflection of Bumiputra competence in or aptitude for commerce. They fail precisely because they are state sponsored. Similar companies in China (Gitic) and India (Air India) suffer the same fate.
Anticipatory stereotype
Apart from their drag on the economy, special privileges also exact a heavy burden on their recipients. Any system will have failures. Non-Bumiputras who do not make it can conveniently blame the system rather than themselves - a healthy defence. If only they lived in Singapore or China, they rationalise, they would be successful.
For Bumiputras who fail however, the psychological toll can be very stiff. They already harbour inner doubts, hence the special privileges in the first place. Now despite the extra help, they still fail; thus they must be "real losers."
This anticipatory stereotype, as psychologists refer to, is the hidden silent burden imposed by special privileges. I have seen its devastating impact on students and young entrepreneurs. More tragically, such individuals will pass on their negative self-image onto their children, thus perpetuating the stereotype.
In Silicon Valley a failed businessman proudly displays his failures, as a war hero would his battle scars, and bravely moves on. But Malays who stumble rarely recover, a victim of anticipatory stereotyping. Unchecked, it breeds a culture of non risk-taking, which is hardly conducive to progress. These disastrous consequences of special privileges must not be underestimated.
There is a fine art in helping people. Skillfully done, they blossom into their full potential; poorly done and they become hopelessly dependent.
Malays should be like our durian trees, requiring staking only as saplings and later growing into towering trees and rewarding their caretakers with bountiful fruits.
We should not be like decorative vines with their luxuriant foliage, only to collapse without their trellises.
"Seeing it my way" is a regular commentary by M BAKRI MUSA, a surgeon in Silicon Valley, California and the author of The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia. Bakri's column appears every first weekend of the month. His views on Malaysia can be stated thus: Ours is a diverse nation; we can accept and celebrate this reality or by default, it becomes a liability.
His stern remarks were prompted by the purported demands by Suqiu, a coalition of Chinese organisations, to abolish special privileges for Bumiputras. This precipitated a ballistic response from Umno Youth, and from thereon the controversy rapidly went downhill.
As subsequent developments amply demonstrate, such controversies are not only highly divisive but detract from the more difficult task at hand: making all Malaysians competitive. Is preferential policy the solution or the problem?
A year ago then education minister Najib Razak lamented that without quotas, Malays would constitute only about five percent of local undergraduates. I expected his remark to stimulate deep soul searching; instead there were shrill calls for increasing the quota, that is, more of the same stalled strategy.
Even if the government were to expand special privileges and make, for example, our civil service and public universities exclusively for Bumiputras, that would evoke minimal resistance.
Sure, there would be rabble-rousing rhetoric from the likes of Lim Kit Siang, but for most Malaysians life would go on. Observe how Chinese leaders are now desperately disassociating themselves from Suqiu. Significantly, such an expansion would have little practical impact on non-Bumiputras. Few now want to be policemen, soldiers or teachers. And with the proliferation of private colleges, there would be no shortage of non-Bumiputra graduates.
Instead of being destructively consumed with envy and jealousy, non-Bumiputras have shrewdly learned to be motivated by these exclusionary practices. They have also wisely concluded that if special privileges are the price they have to pay for peace and stability, so be it. They rationalise it as society's protection money, evil but necessary.
Revamp education and training
For Bumiputras, however, expansion of special privileges in their present form would be disastrous. Our public universities, now on a downward slide, would accelerate their decline. Our civil service already lags the private sector; imagine if it is made more insular.
Among bright and talented young Malays, government jobs are not even on their radar screen, their horizons extending far beyond. Their's are to join the Intels and JP Morgans of the world, not the civil service, Pernas or UDA.
The single most important avenue for enhancing competitiveness is through education and training. Unfortunately today, Malays have the highest school dropout rates. Our students pursue subjects that ill equip them for the modern economy. They flock to religious schools, where indoctrination masquerades as education, and the obsession deep into the hereafter.
The solution is not to close these madrasahs but to modernise them. Church affiliated schools and colleges in America produce their share of the nation's scholars, scientists, and executives. Harvard started out to train clergymen but is now famous for other than its divinity school.
Our religious schools must be revamped so that Islamic Studies is only one of many subjects, not the consuming curriculum. These students must be taught English, science, and mathematics. And if they later become ulama, they will be better for it. They can then do more than merely chant Arabic incantations when faced with the problems of their flock.
Our rural schools are a disgrace. Upgrade them with air-conditioned classrooms, plentiful computers, and decent teachers' quarters. Double the teachers' pay if that is what it takes to attract them.
As most of these students are poor, I would provide breakfast, snacks and lunches, as in the US. With air-conditioned classrooms, extend the school hours. Have the students stay in the afternoon to do their studying and homework, and to take part in extra-curricular activities. When they go home it is only to sleep and enjoy family life.
For those not academically inclined, I would have vocational schools that are closely tied to industry, fashioned along the German "Dual System", Train Malays to be mechanics, plumbers and electricians rather than squandering money on Rakan Muda, Bina Negara and other faddish public works exercises.
Reward bright Malays handsomely. If they are smart enough to be admitted to top-rank universities, for example, they should automatically get scholarships.
But please, no more rewarding mediocrity by sending students to expensive third-rate foreign institutions. Our students will respond if we demand higher expectations.
In awarding public contracts and shares, I would favour those who are technically trained as a means of showing our respect and appreciation for their efforts.
Expensive remedy? Yes, but consider the alternative, with these youngsters becoming non-productive dregs of society. Actually the cost would be minuscule compared with the billions expended by Danaharta in bailing out Bumiputra corporations.
If we spend more on schools and less on coddling inept entrepreneurs, we would be ahead. The failure of these companies is no reflection of Bumiputra competence in or aptitude for commerce. They fail precisely because they are state sponsored. Similar companies in China (Gitic) and India (Air India) suffer the same fate.
Anticipatory stereotype
Apart from their drag on the economy, special privileges also exact a heavy burden on their recipients. Any system will have failures. Non-Bumiputras who do not make it can conveniently blame the system rather than themselves - a healthy defence. If only they lived in Singapore or China, they rationalise, they would be successful.
For Bumiputras who fail however, the psychological toll can be very stiff. They already harbour inner doubts, hence the special privileges in the first place. Now despite the extra help, they still fail; thus they must be "real losers."
This anticipatory stereotype, as psychologists refer to, is the hidden silent burden imposed by special privileges. I have seen its devastating impact on students and young entrepreneurs. More tragically, such individuals will pass on their negative self-image onto their children, thus perpetuating the stereotype.
In Silicon Valley a failed businessman proudly displays his failures, as a war hero would his battle scars, and bravely moves on. But Malays who stumble rarely recover, a victim of anticipatory stereotyping. Unchecked, it breeds a culture of non risk-taking, which is hardly conducive to progress. These disastrous consequences of special privileges must not be underestimated.
There is a fine art in helping people. Skillfully done, they blossom into their full potential; poorly done and they become hopelessly dependent.
Malays should be like our durian trees, requiring staking only as saplings and later growing into towering trees and rewarding their caretakers with bountiful fruits.
We should not be like decorative vines with their luxuriant foliage, only to collapse without their trellises.
"Seeing it my way" is a regular commentary by M BAKRI MUSA, a surgeon in Silicon Valley, California and the author of The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia. Bakri's column appears every first weekend of the month. His views on Malaysia can be stated thus: Ours is a diverse nation; we can accept and celebrate this reality or by default, it becomes a liability.
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