Question Time: The NEP quota hangover

This headline in theedgedaily of 9th October 2006 seems very apt with the current debate on the fate of the NEP. I was particularly struck by this paragraph:

"So why is this misinformation perpetrated? The simple answer would be that there are many bumiputeras, especially the politically connected, who will benefit by it - but not the large majority of bumiputeras, mind you. These bumiputeras are those who benefit from an allocation of bumiputera shares to them at concessional rates and the need to get bumiputera partners to bid for government projects and so on. Many well-connected and politically influential bumiputeras will be affected if the quota system was unwound. That explains a lot of things happening now, particularly the reluctance of the political leadership all this while to do anything about the quotas or to revise the way that it is measured so that it is meaningful. It also explains why former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim supported the NEP when he was in government because he needed the support of those who benefit from it. Now, in opposition, that support becomes immaterial and he can call for the NEP to be abandoned. That would also explain why former Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB - a vehicle specifically set up under the NEP to enhance bumiputera equity ownership) chief executive officer Datuk Khalid Ibrahim now says the NEP could destroy the Malays because of the way it is structured to help only some bumiputeras and perpetuate inefficiency and patronage. And it also explains why young leaders such as Khairy Jamaludin, deputy head of Umno Youth, who was not even born when the NEP was implemented and of whom expectations were high that he would tread a more enlightened path given his youth and idealism, strongly defended the quota system."

These are the facts which those in power would never admit. As the article said, it is to the advantage of those in power to maintain the status quo ad infinitum. The have-nots will remain where they are now and any hopes of changing that situation will require a gargantuan effort from those in power. An enlightened power which the present administration does not seem to possess. Pity the meek and the downtrodden. Their fate in life???