Extending NEP?
Was updating myself on news back home (from The Star) when I saw these:
~ Bring back NEP, says Youth wing
~ Mukhriz: Government should extend NEP till 2020
I'll be the first to admit I don't know enough about NEP than I should. Just some idle thoughts..
First, some excerpts (in quotation marks):
"...New Economic Policy revived as part of the national development policy to protect the interest of the Malays.";
The word "protect" raises alot of questions. Protect from who? What about the interests of all other Malaysians? Indian Chinese Sikh Iban Kadazan etc etc?
"...so that the Malays would be empowered and not sidelined from now till the year 2020";
Why should anyone be sidelined if they develop skills and knowledge to compete on equal terms nationwide and in the global marketplace, the same with everybody else in the current world environment..
"...there must be an assurance for the Malays to be allowed to dominate selected property sectors";
Again, the word "dominate" bugs me. I'm 3rd generation Malaysian, proud to be one and still I wonder why there are such suggestions for any one race to be allowed to "dominate" certain sectors?
“We are the descendents of a race that once ruled an empire. Our people are known for its culture and resourcefulness,” he (Mukhriz) said.
So why worry about being sidelined? With Malays these days quite capable and enterprising, there shouldn't be any worries about their worth.
My first impression's that there seems to be abit of a low esteem atmosphere back there. Since there's now "meritocracy" in Malaysia, everyone gets "equal access" to education etc, the rakyat should have been competing on an equal foot. Fairness and equality comes to mind. As long as you (regardless of race/culture/background) are good enough, you won't get left behind. Why the need for special policies? Almost as if they themselves believe they are not competitive enough. If it were Chinese politicians talking about the same things (eg to protect chinese etc), I'll have the exact same opinions.
News like that disappoints me as ithighlights yet again thoughts of "we" and "them" are healthy and alive. Bangsa Malaysia? Abroad, if people ask me where I'm from, I always say "I'm Malaysian" and only adding "chinese" if they ask. Can't blame people for being cynical and disillusioned.
Am currently taking International Business and another unit related to globalisation this semester. We talk alot about the current state of affairs over the world and the impact of doing business in different countries etc. What side effects of globalisation eg pollution (countries spending 5-6% of GDP just to combat respiratory illnesses etc) worsening income gap among rich and poor etc etc..
Early this week, we were having a discussion on the hot topic of the weekend - potatoes. You see, McDonald's originally sources their potatoes (for fries) from Tasmania. About 8 weeks ago they decided to source 50% of it from New Zealand. There's a lot of big hoo-ha about the future of the agriculture/farming industry in Tasmania due to increasing amounts of imports of farm produce / vegetables etc.
Reasons for sourcing from NZ are undoubtedly economic ones. A newspaper commentator mentioned that Tassie farmers should be looking to broaden their markets (to more overseas transactions) or be more efficient and competitive compared to their global competitors. All the commentators are Aussies.
Trying to convince the public to buy Aussie produced / grown is a noble effort but if it costs more, many would make their decisions with their wallets not with their hearts. Basically this is globalisation and everyone needs to adapt, else they'll get left behind. Thats what both my lecturers have been discussing too.. the importance of continuous and on-going attainment of knowledge, self improvement and also important - flexibility.
btw, did you know onions in Coles, Woolworth's and IGA (the 3 major supermarket chains in Aus) comes from Belgium?? Thats what my lecturer enlightened us about. Apparently its cheaper to get it shipped from Europe than to source it from Victoria, due to EU's agricultural subsidies.
~ Bring back NEP, says Youth wing
~ Mukhriz: Government should extend NEP till 2020
I'll be the first to admit I don't know enough about NEP than I should. Just some idle thoughts..
First, some excerpts (in quotation marks):
"...New Economic Policy revived as part of the national development policy to protect the interest of the Malays.";
The word "protect" raises alot of questions. Protect from who? What about the interests of all other Malaysians? Indian Chinese Sikh Iban Kadazan etc etc?
"...so that the Malays would be empowered and not sidelined from now till the year 2020";
Why should anyone be sidelined if they develop skills and knowledge to compete on equal terms nationwide and in the global marketplace, the same with everybody else in the current world environment..
"...there must be an assurance for the Malays to be allowed to dominate selected property sectors";
Again, the word "dominate" bugs me. I'm 3rd generation Malaysian, proud to be one and still I wonder why there are such suggestions for any one race to be allowed to "dominate" certain sectors?
“We are the descendents of a race that once ruled an empire. Our people are known for its culture and resourcefulness,” he (Mukhriz) said.
So why worry about being sidelined? With Malays these days quite capable and enterprising, there shouldn't be any worries about their worth.
My first impression's that there seems to be abit of a low esteem atmosphere back there. Since there's now "meritocracy" in Malaysia, everyone gets "equal access" to education etc, the rakyat should have been competing on an equal foot. Fairness and equality comes to mind. As long as you (regardless of race/culture/background) are good enough, you won't get left behind. Why the need for special policies? Almost as if they themselves believe they are not competitive enough. If it were Chinese politicians talking about the same things (eg to protect chinese etc), I'll have the exact same opinions.
News like that disappoints me as ithighlights yet again thoughts of "we" and "them" are healthy and alive. Bangsa Malaysia? Abroad, if people ask me where I'm from, I always say "I'm Malaysian" and only adding "chinese" if they ask. Can't blame people for being cynical and disillusioned.
Am currently taking International Business and another unit related to globalisation this semester. We talk alot about the current state of affairs over the world and the impact of doing business in different countries etc. What side effects of globalisation eg pollution (countries spending 5-6% of GDP just to combat respiratory illnesses etc) worsening income gap among rich and poor etc etc..
Early this week, we were having a discussion on the hot topic of the weekend - potatoes. You see, McDonald's originally sources their potatoes (for fries) from Tasmania. About 8 weeks ago they decided to source 50% of it from New Zealand. There's a lot of big hoo-ha about the future of the agriculture/farming industry in Tasmania due to increasing amounts of imports of farm produce / vegetables etc.
Reasons for sourcing from NZ are undoubtedly economic ones. A newspaper commentator mentioned that Tassie farmers should be looking to broaden their markets (to more overseas transactions) or be more efficient and competitive compared to their global competitors. All the commentators are Aussies.
Trying to convince the public to buy Aussie produced / grown is a noble effort but if it costs more, many would make their decisions with their wallets not with their hearts. Basically this is globalisation and everyone needs to adapt, else they'll get left behind. Thats what both my lecturers have been discussing too.. the importance of continuous and on-going attainment of knowledge, self improvement and also important - flexibility.
btw, did you know onions in Coles, Woolworth's and IGA (the 3 major supermarket chains in Aus) comes from Belgium?? Thats what my lecturer enlightened us about. Apparently its cheaper to get it shipped from Europe than to source it from Victoria, due to EU's agricultural subsidies.
posted by xaverri at 6:33 pm
1 Comments:
there's more interesting comments from jeffooi.com,,
Post a Comment
<< Home