LETTER: There has been much angst in the Indian community over perceived injustices in the 2021 Budget. There are many comments on social media highlighting and lamenting the fact that while RM11.1 billion has been allocated for the socio-economic development of the Bumiputera community, only RM100 million has been allocated for the Indian community for the same purpose.
Many term the budget discriminatory and ethnic-centred. Some go on to calculate the percentages or the per capita allocation based on the RM11.1 billion and RM100 million figures. Of course, the differences are huge and they seem to support the assertion that "there is nothing in this budget for the Indian community".
There are several aspects of the budget that I am unhappy about. But we need to be rational and fair in our criticism. First, we need to re-examine the notion that there "is nothing in Budget 2021 for the Indian community".
There are, in fact, quite a number of allocations in the 2021 Budget that are colour blind – the BPN (Bantuan Prihatin Nasional) cash transfers are for everyone in the B40 and M40 groups irrespective of ethnicity; the wage support schemes to help keep people at work is for all workers earning below a certain wage; the RM31 billion Ministry of Health Budget and the RM50.4 billion allocation for education are for all Malaysians irrespective of ethnicity; thousands of Indians get welfare assistance; the Employment Insurance Scheme covers all formal sector workers who are retrenched, and the list goes on. So it is incorrect to argue that this budget completely ignores non-Bumiputera communities.
But given the decades of ethnic-based political indoctrination in Malaysia, the assertion that this budget is only for the Malay community is accepted by too many of our citizens as true! Hence the angst. And sadly, we keep drifting further from the goal of building a harmonious society.
Another important point overlooked by the critics of this budget is that there have been similar provisions for socio-economic uplifting of the Bumiputera community in the federal budgets under Barisan Nasional and even under Pakatan Harapan (PH). For example, in Oct 2019, Lim Guan Eng allocated RM6.6 billion for Mara and UiTM, RM1 billion through SJPP and SME bank for Bumiputera SMEs, RM445 million to Tekun, PUNB, PHB, and Teraju in the 2020 Budget. In addition, he pledged that the federal government would procure approximately RM4.8 billion through Bumiputera vendors in 2020. This all added up to RM12.8 billion. In contrast, only RM100 million was allocated for Mitra in the 2020 Budget tabled by the PH government.
However the allocations in the 2020 Budget didn't elicit the vehement criticisms that we are witnessing now. Why is this so? Is it because PH was "our" government so we didn't even examine the budget that closely? And now, as we are angry with PN, is it okay for us to hurl brickbats at them without doing too much fact checking? Then, how different are we from Umno and Pas who whipped up Malay anxiety over ICERD? Is it then kosher in Malaysia to exaggerate issues because we do not like the government of the day even though such politicking is only partially based on facts and it aggravates ethnic tensions and creates an "us against them" mentality?
The fact is that the Bumiputera community has been under-performing in the SME sector. Sure, in numerical terms there are many Malay SMEs, but most of them are micro sized. About 40 per cent of the assets in the SME sector are owned by Malaysian Chinese and another 40 per cent are owned by foreigners. Less than 20 per cent are owned by Bumiputera individuals. It has been government policy under BN and PH to implement programmes to build the capacity of Bumiputera businesses. This is not a new policy brought in by Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin or PN.
It is undeniable that a large a portion of financial aid set aside to develop Bumiputera entrepreneurship has been misused and pocketed by the well connected.
These generous allocations have not actually helped build business capacity in the Bumiputera community. But does that mean the nation should give up on the effort to increase Bumiputera participation in the SME sector? Shouldn't our focus be on how this could be achieved and how best to prevent the heavy leakages that have been occurring all this while?
I fully realise that my stand on this issue will not be well received by those indoctrinated to see everything in racial terms. I will be criticised and so too will the PSM. But Malaysians who care about building an inclusive and harmonious society should not cower in silence. We need to speak out and build the middle ground. We need "to be the change that we wish to see in our country".
It is relatively easy to canvass the real and perceived problems faced by one's own community. The more shrilly one complains and the more outlandish one's demands are, the more support one gets from the community. One is perceived as a true communal champion. And this is what many politicians tend to do, and it wins them votes.
It also creates a competition among politicians to be the better champion of their community. But this sort of politics has set us further and further apart. And it also makes it very difficult to govern if by some chance we actually win federal power- for this kind of politicking raises the expectations of different ethnic groups to unrealistic levels. PH was caught in this situation.
If we want to build a harmonious nation, we need to reach across the ethnic aisle. We need politicians and social activists to take the time to understand the problems faced by members of other ethnic groups and work with them to build multi-ethnic networks that address these problems. We need to build trust and dispel the misconceptions that 60 years of over-ethnicised politicking has generated in this country.
Acknowledging the social and economic problems of other ethnic groups does not mean that one is "betraying" one's own community – though this is how some of the over-indoctrinated will view it! In fact, many of the problems – like affordable housing, poor public transport, under-funded and over-crowded public hospitals, poorly maintained flats, inadequate savings for the elderly – are common to all communities, and would be more easily solved if we all work together.
Many of the critics call for the defeating of the 2021 Budget in Parliament. I would seriously caution against this. At this point there does not seem to be any political leader in Malaysia who can form a stable government in the event that the PN is brought down. There is a significant risk that the defeat of the budget will lead to a declaration of an Emergency, as the alternative would be a holding a general election in the middle of a surge in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The declaration of an Emergency would be a big step backwards for Malaysia. The limited checks and balances that the parliamentary process makes possible will be suspended. Kleptocrats will have more opportunities to amass wealth. The latent authoritarian tendencies in some of our current ministers and in the police force will show themselves. It's not a good place to take our nation.
So my fellow Malaysians, can we all "chill" a bit? Let's cut down the ethnicised politicking but keep advocating for government programmes to protect the most vulnerable – the families whose incomes have plunged, and the businesses facing severe cash flow problems. Let's reach across the ethnic divide and start understanding the issues that other communities are grappling with. Let's think as Malaysians and start advocating for the solution of problems faced by other ethnic groups. Maybe this sort of approach will, over time, enable us to build the principled political coalition (that rejects ethnic politicking) that can unite our people and take this nation forward.
Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj
Parti Sosialis Malaysia Chairperson and former Member of Parliament
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times