SHAH ALAM, July 26 – PJ Utara MP Tony Pua urged the Selangor government today to slash Bumiputera discounts for luxury homes and commercial property in the state, to improve competitiveness and restore investor confidence.

“Sacred cows need to be slaughtered,” said the chief economist for the DAP.

Pua’s statement, which will raise eyebrows among the country’s Malay majority population, follows a recent United Nations report which showed that Malaysia’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had plunged 81 per cent last year.

However, Pua (pic) said the seven per cent discounts enjoyed by Malays and other Bumiputeras should be retained for homes below RM500,000.

“I am not against affirmative action but not for homes that cost RM1 million or RM2 million,” said Pua.

He argues that no discounts should be given for commercial property above RM2 million.

The Oxford graduate, who was among panellists at a dialogue to discuss Selangor’s 2011 budget, pointed out that many “brokers” were taking advantage of the policy.

Pua said effectively these units are being bought by middlemen, with a seven per cent discount, and then re-sold for profit of two per cent.

He pointed out that the state should also review its policy of giving out cheap land to subsidiaries.

The PJ Utara MP said that Selangor had between 50 and 80 state-linked companies, all of whom are involved in property development.

“Although they are established for specific purposes but all are involved in property development because they can get cheap land from the state.”

He said that the state was subsidising these developments and it was not competitive.

Instead he said Selangor should take a page from Singapore’s book by opening international tenders to develop state land.

He cited Singapore’s Integrated Resorts as an example of how the island nation managed to generate international attraction for two small tracks of land.