JUNE 7 — The essence of Perkasa’s ideology, if one can even call it that, is to make the Malays feel like the master race in the country. As the master race, all that belongs to the country belongs to them. They, of course, have yet to get their just deserts.

Even if they had already got it before, they still want it now because they presumably were not able to make much of the benefits they once enjoyed. Their demands, though, are cloaked under the guise of the poverty and disabilities of the Malays in Malaysia.

The liberal Malays, on the other hand, are well exposed to other races and nationalities. We are confident of ourselves in relation to other people. We have long left behind the village mindset and are disdainful of being the village champion as we know there is a great big world out there, with many who are indeed smart and capable human beings. Yet we welcome an environment that is based on meritocracy.

We look at the Malays in Singapore and ask, how are they able to have a GDP per capita which is a few times higher than the Malays here? They didn’t have the New Economic Policy (NEP). What they did have was a good education, a clean government and meritocracy.

The Perkasa mindset plays on the Malays’ fears that without rent seeking, corruption, subsidies and abuse of power, the Malays are doomed. Yes, the Malays are generally poor but the so-called affirmative action as proposed by Perkasa will not make the majority of them better off.

It will only enrich the few Malays at the top who can take advantage of it. At the same time the mindset of most of the Malays will still be focussed on their poverty, ignorance and an inability to compete in today’s economic environment.

If Perkasa succeeds then the age old adage of “who you know is more important that what you know” will perpetuate. The poor Malays can then hang on and around the Perkasa leadership in hopes of getting their improbable payoffs somewhere in the future.

The liberal Malays know that the Perkasa way will be both unfair and unsustainable not only to other Malaysians but to the Malays themselves. We want to make the Malays better off, too.

The difference is that we want to make the vast majority of them better off, not just a select few. Foremost to this is for the Malays to live in a free society where individual human rights are respected above all else. The Malays should not have to make a trade off between their individual human rights just to support an affirmative action policy that has long passed its sell-by date.

Malay women who represent half of the Malay population should also not be subject to the gender bias so prevalent in our society today. Single Malay mothers should not have to bear the burden for their children while the men who impregnated them are scot free.

The illegitimate Malay children should be helped and not stigmatised. Focussing on punishing and subjugating the Malays will not improve their lot, especially when blame is not properly assigned. Lowering the bar in education just to get more Malays to pass will not make them more employable.

The liberal Malays know that solving the above Malay problems will enrich the Malay race far more than any affirmative action as proposed by Perkasa. Hypocrisy has to be thrown out the window. We must look at the world as it is today and solve today’s problems.

Meritocracy will save the Malays from the power structures that only wish to perpetuate their own rule. The young Malays should not be fettered with the ideologies of the past. The institutions that actually helped the Malays in the past have grown too big and have now become a power unto themselves. They no longer serve the interest of the vast majority of the Malays.

Yes, the Malays will have to study and work harder. Success in the political, religious or government sectors cannot continue to be the key to the wealth of the Malays. Focus must be put on increasing the commercial value of the Malays in the private sector. Liberalisation in the educational, commercial and social aspects of society will free the Malay minds to pursue their own destiny.

The politics of Perkasa has no place if we are to have a new dawn of honesty, openness, intellectual vibrancy and meritocracy. This will be the true empowerment of the Malays as envisaged by the liberal agenda.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.