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Hah, indeed there is commonsense in this article. But why is it so late in coming from an outspoken personality? Wasn't the NEP fabulously implemented during Mahathir's long rule? But as they say, perhaps, it's still better late than never!

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This is by far your best piece. A very intelligent write up indeed. Give you the credit where it's due.

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Ah! Matthias - well, the greenback is still worth more than toilet paper!!
Sorry, but can't help that dig!
Yes, on the point of " NEP to eradicate poverty and social injustice", I'm in full agreement as I believe will the majority of the rakyat.
The question remains as to whether that policy in its curtailed form can do it?
I'm not at all optimistic!

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Well written. Hit the nail right on the head. Only the cream of the Elites continue to benefit. Nothing much has changed and I am surprised it has taken so long for Malaysians to wake up to the rape and pillaging that has been going on. Another smoke and mirror attempt to hoodwink the populace. At least it has been exposed for what it is.

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Excellent piece. If it is so obvious to most educated professionals and probably others how come the NEP problems is not fixed? I guess the answer is obvious all along. But like the writer said what are we as rakyat going to do about it. It is actually up to us collectively.

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Let's call a spade, a spade!

I would have thought that these 30% stake of all ventures would have gone into one special government trust fund for the benefits of all bumiputras...not just a few selected individuals or groups! - that is the only way to ensure that the benefits can be fairly distributed to all bumiputras with certainty.

As long as there is no certainty in ascertaining this 30% bumiputra stake, this issue of bumiputras not achieving the 30% stake will continue to plague us indefinitely and those who are able to manipulate the system will always scream the loudest if anyone dares question the bumiputra stakes because they stand to lose the most even though they had benefited the most because when money is concern, there is never enough of it no matter how much they have wringed out of the system.

When a beneficiary after having acquired the 30% stake, chose to sell off their stake, that 30% must be permanently recorded as part of the overall total 30% stake the NEP seek to achieve and any proceeds from the sale must be paid into the trust fund for future investments by the trust fund in order to maintain the funds future profitability/viability in helping genuine poor bumiputras. Those who chose to sell off their stake must not benefit from the proceeds individually or in groups but must hand back all those proceeds for the benefit of all bumiputras under the NEP. They can be the beneficiaries of such distributions by the trust funds, if deemed fit.

The fact that political elites and their cronies are able to pocket these proceeds from the 30% sell offs are an affront to all bumiputras and should be viewed as traitors and as a commercial crime against the government NEP policies and should be required to reimburse the government with all proceeds because the NEP was never meant to be for the benefit of individual bumiputra who can do the same exercise of acquiring the 30% and selling off their acquired stakes over and over again (there will be no end to this abuse) - that's why the government will never ever achieve the 30% stake as required under the NEP if nothing is done about this process.

Once a 30% stake is acquired, then, the stake must be included as part of the 30% stake having been achieved as required under the NEP. If the stake is sold, then, the 30% stake must remained as having been achieved but the only difference now is that the stake had been converted into cash and the cash must be returned into a government trust fund for the future benefits of all bumiputras by way of reinvestments by the trust fund or by way of distribution to all bumiputras in order to alleviate their poverty problems.

No individual or groups of bumiputras should ever be allowed to pocket the proceeds as to allow them to do so would be a crime against all the bumiputras who are living in poverty all these years of abuse! The government had allowed individual or groups of bumiputras to pocket the proceeds of sale of these 30% stakes and in the process had failed the bumiputra communities who have to suffer the indignition of living in abcess poverty while a selected few lived the life of luxury. This must stop!

When the issue of 30% stakes remains, those who could and would have invested in new businesses, will have second thoughts of investing because who in their right mind would give away 30% stake in their hard earned resources before even knowing if the venture can be profitable. If new businesses are reluctant start-ups, just imagine the damage such requirements will do to the economy.

If truth is the real concern, then the 30% stakes as required under the NEP would have been achieved a long time ago and the economy if not burdened by this policy, would have been much stronger by new investments throughout the period concerned. But then, interested parties again will be out in arms and will interprete and reinterprete any data in any manner to ensure no one will ever disturb their "rice-bowls" or should I say their golden goose.

As Dr Mahathir had so eloquently quoted.."lets call a spade, a spade", then, let's just do that and allow the economy to recover in order not to penalise the young generation of job seekers and bread and butter winners!

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After reading the article, in simple language, the 30% can never be achieved because in a market economy it is always in a dynamic flux. Things moves and changes. So the 30% ownership is just to act as a smoke screen for the elites to continuously milk the economy without contributing to it. It is just one more big Ponzi scheme. Give them 30%, they sell it and squander it, and come back screaming that the non Malays did not give them the 30%. Unfortunately the Malay Rakyat's vision is too blocked by BNs racial politics that they really think that after 50 years the non Malays still do not want to give them the 30% ownership. Only the Malays can save Malaysia by giving up racial and religious politics but then, being a pessimist, it will be like telling the elephant to learn how to fly. C'est le vie in Bolehland.

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The 30% Bumiputra has been ABUSED and MISUSED by the UMNOPutra Elite all these years, it NEVER trickled down to 98% of ORDINARY BUMIPUTRAs, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak. To keep it running, will be suicidal for the upcoming GE13 where UMNO/BN will most likely be wiped out. Abolishing it is an act of desperation!

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H! Matty<
Lets get it straight ! the core of the 30% is blantant robbery for any investor or for me!These elites don want to work and want money at my expense.My blood ,sweat and tears to be shared!
Write on what you want but its still daylight robbery .

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The NEP is curtailed but the non bumiputra public lose out in this exercise. Now non bumi people will have to compete with the bumis on the smaller public spread. The people who benefit from this policy are the business people, they don't have to worry about the 30% bumi requirement.
However should newly listed companies increase their public spread to 60% bumiputra investors do not really lose out, it will be back to square one.

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Awarding the 30% share of public companies to selected bumi investors is the main cause of the failure of NEP. They should have given the allotment to trust funds like the ASN and wasn't it the case initially? Somebody simply hijacked the allotment for their own benefit and these are the real betrayers of the bumiputras. It reminds me of the case in MIC where somebody hijacked the 10 million Telecom shares alloted by the govt to them.

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I think many people and certainly all the politicians in umno knew that NEP was never meant to be a mechanisn for gaining equity but a mechanism for siphoning off filthy lucre for those who managed to get their hands on the pink form. The pink form then became a system of political largesse.

The other examples of how NEP had succeeded and helped the bumiputras such as increased educational opportunies, scholarship etc. do not need governmental policy to implement ; it is written in the constitution. The bumiputra community had always been an agriculture community. NEP did not have to give them preference in an area that they had always enjoyed dominance.

After removing all the policy elements that were found in the constitution what is left was this huge pipe(pink form and licenses) for a few to enrich themselves. In short the NEP was greed, pure unadulterated greed of umno ruling elite, sugar coated with a social agenda that was already enshrined in the constitution.

Dr.M knew this and even mentioned it and he regretted the attitude of the bumiputras. On the surface he had to say this but he had shamelessly used this political largesse to further his own political agenda. He argued this as "holding in trust" for the bumiputra community. He is such an angel

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Its your fault, its your fault , Matthais, your master TDM was at fault for continuing with the crooked policy for his 22 years of rule and you , there beside him only say "wolf" "wolf" but never pointed out the fault to him.

You merely continue to lick his boots and fawn at his feet. What a shame .

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Once in a while this dude does write some good stuff but why did he keep quiet when the MahaFiraun was in power? Selective memory again?

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Matthais Chang's lengthy analogy of NEP failure use the story of 2 island economy.
A simpler evaluation is the bedtime story of 'Ali Baba and the 40 theives'
Baba wanting a business license from the 40 thieves ,gave 30% shareholding of his company to Ali ,who draws company benefit but contributes nothing.
Togather they set up a company call Ali Baba Sdn Bhd.
Ali sleeping and bump around .
Only Baba working.
While this is going on ,the 40 theives continue plundering and squandering.

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