30% bumi equity insufficient - additional condition required

Well, Prof Shamsul Amri Baharuddin isn’t the only one to dispute the correctness of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) study titled 'Corporate Equity Distribution: Past Trends and Future Policy' which said bumiputera’ equity is already 45% and not the 19% the government based its 9th Malayisa Plan on.

Prof ShaMsul questioned the study because it has been made by a particular race.

Zainol Abidin Abdul Hamid, treasure general of the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (DPMM) said that Asli’s study cannot be accepted because the facts are incorrect.

His reason?

“Our government says corporate bumiputera equity is 18 to 19 percent, how can Asli say it is up to 45 percent?”

Well, at least here’s a man whose conclusion is based on loyalty rather than race of the researchers. I wonder what Prof Shamsul would make of this since the 19% equity was also made by a particular race?

But wait, another university academician, in fact an economics lecturer at University Paling you-know-what (UPM), Judhiana Abdul Ghani, also disputed the findings.

She said many people would disbelieve the report because the distribution of wealth is not comprehensive.

“… distribution of wealth is not comprehensive …”?

Comprehensive? What did she mean?

She said: “On the overall, the (30%) bumiputera equity ownership may have been achieved with the inclusion of GLCs but it is only focused on a small group while the rest of the community does not enjoy it.”

“Actually what’s most important is to let more bumiputeras acquire that said equity.”

If you read what she said, she has actually acknowledged that the 30% equity has already been achieved but, by her own introduction of one new word into the equation, namely 'comprehensive', shifted the goalposts – bumiputera equity is no longer equity per se. According to her, the 30% equity will only be achieved when that’s distributed across the bumiputera community.

Was this ever the objective of the NEP?

Of course f**king not, because that would be akin to 'communism' or if we want to be generous to her, 'socialism'.

She has basically defined a new NEP objective, one setting an impossible goal with an idealistic socialist (or communist-like) distribution which will never ever be achieved even when the bumiputera has acquired 100% equity, unless of course she wants to recruit Chin Peng out of retirement to make Malaysia a communist state.

Hmmm, maybe that’s the plan – keep shifting goalposts to ensure the NEP remains there forever.