It is easier to understand than do

It is always easier to understand than do. You may know the truth, you may know what is the right thing to do and you may know what is the best for the society. But it may be very difficult to do it. Economic liberalisation is a very good example here.

Everyone knows that the country has fallen into a "middle-income trap" and therefore, we need to open up, abolish racial policies and privileges in order to attract talents, promote economic transformation and become a high-income country. However, the plan does not work out smoothly because of political considerations.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told the Parliament Wednesday (17 March) that the New Economic Model (NEM) would not abolish Bumiputera rights, but would focus on cooperation with non-Bumiputeras. In addition, the target of the NEM was to achieve an annual growth of 6.5%.

It was the first time for the government to make a clearer explanation about the content of the NEM. It also means that the spirit of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which has been implemented over the past 40 years, will be retained in the NEM.

Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the NEM would be announced in two stages. It made people wondered: Why does it have to be announced in two stages?

Coincidently, Bernama news agency issues a photo on the same day. In the photo, Malay rights group PERKASA President Datuk Ibrahim Ali handed over a memorandum on the NEM to Najib, who was having a straight face.

PERKASA and 75 other Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have formed a consultative council, Majlis Perundingan NGO Melayu (MPM), to defend Malay privileges. It has made UMNO leaders to face a tremendous political pressure.

How are they going to promote cooperation among all racial groups if racial privileges are being retained in the NEM? How are they going to achieve high economic growth? How are they going to transform into a knowledge and creativity based country?

The country will be taking the old path if the spirit of the NEP is being retained. There will be no way to retain capital and talents. Even worse, the country can never remove the "racist state" label.

In the meantime, the government's economic transformation plan is also facing the resistance from the business community. Japanese ambassador Masahiko Horie said that if the shortage of foreign, knowledge and skill workers was not being improved, Japanese companies might be forced to withdraw from Malaysia and invest in labour-intensive and cheap countries.

Restaurants and the service industry also gave indifferent responses to the Home Ministry's nationwide crackdown operation on illegal foreign workers.

The objective to reduce foreign workers is to reduce the dependence on foreign workers. If the manufacturing sector continues to employ a large amount of foreign workers, they can never increase the basic salaries of their workers. It will also bring down the salaries of local workers.

If the government makes a concession to the business community, the country can never get rid of labour-intensive industries, it will also be impossible to attract high-tech and high value-added investments. The economic transformation takes time and it is impossible to be done overnight. However, without taking the first step, it can never take the second step.

Time is running out, we do not have time to wait. The country may become a net oil importer in 2011. Our future will be bitter if the economy is not being transformed within these few years. However, it is easier to understand than do, and it has always been a reality in Malaysia. (By LIM SUE GOAN/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily)