In a recent meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and students at Kolej Matrikulasi Pulau Pinang in Kepala Batas, a student raised the question of when the quota system would be replaced with a system based on meritocracy.
It was a very sensitive question, but relevant.
Anwar answered the question, and to his credit, said that the quota system could not be replaced as it was a social contract that had been agreed upon by all the races in Malaysia at the point of independence.
There were those who had condemned Anwar, saying that he had “bullied” the student.
I kept reviewing the video of the student in question, and I do not think that there was bullying involved.
When the girl started to apologise to the Malay students present, presumably because of the sensitive nature of the question, Anwar stopped her from doing so. He saved her from embarrassment and ridicule. Anwar has, and will always be like that.
Which Malaysian prime minister has ever called the non-Malays in the country “my own children”? Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin once said that he was Malay first, Malaysian second.
One must feel for Anwar and the political dilemma he finds himself in.
Imagine what would happen if he said that his administration would review the quota system?
I was born before independence and experienced May 13. I was in the first batch of the New Economic Policy (NEP) undergraduate students in Universiti Malaya in 1970.
It was a hostile environment between the Malays and the non-Malays. Lectures from English were switched to Bahasa Melayu. We were shocked and antagonised.
Yet, we went through it. Later, in the employment world, we were discriminated against, due to the NEP. We were angry about the NEP, but we went through it, as we knew the consequence of it all.
Today’s children do not know all this, and innocently expect things. We had to bite the bullet and go on.
We must live with the quota system and find a way to ‘master’, or work around it, for there are still a lot of opportunities, despite its existence.
Over the years, we have proven that if the system treated us badly, we should ignore it, and not resort to begging.
However, while accepting and allowing for the quota system, the government must realise that this cannot go on indefinitely, as there will be significant social implications.
Some of the best brains in the country will leave. This brain drain will adversely affect the country.
The brains in government must come up with a mechanism where the quota system for the majority can continue, but where another arrangement exists, in which others will compete among themselves for scholarships and other allocations.
For example, if there are 100 places for a particular university intake, allocate 60 per cent to Malays, and the remaining 40 per cent, to the others. The 60 per cent should also include Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak.
This can be used as a charter by the current government to ensure that the quota for the majority remained.
In his reply to the student in Kepala Batas, Anwar mentioned the social contract.
As I recall, the social contract binds all the races in this country to recognise, follow, and protect the legitimate rights of all the different ethnic groups.
The Malays have their special rights and other privileges enshrined in the Constitution. The non-Malays have their legitimate rights to citizenship, their religion, and other rights, also enshrined in the Constitution. The social contract here is that each race will not question, or deprive, the rights of the others.
If I recall, there was an unwritten policy, where the population structure was the guide in all aspects of Malaysian life. For example, when it came to jobs in the civil service, the quota was 60 per cent Malays, 30 per cent Chinese, and 10 per cent Indians. However, over time, the civil service was soon dominated by one race.
In the restructuring of society under the NEP, vocations were not to be associated with race. However, slowly, this was forgotten, and the focus was soon on the Bumiputeras’ share of the economy, and this remains till today.
It would seem that today, the social contract of protecting the rights of non-Malays, has been forgotten.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
The post Wither the quota system in Malaysia? appeared first on Twentytwo13.