We all agreed on the objective of NEP – i.e. to reduce the economic gap between the poor and the rich for the progress of the country. Somehow, it took 35 years to realize that it had worked “wonders” for the Malays – the poor got screwed and the rich just got richer. In other words, we are back to square one.
In contrast, we, the Non Malays somehow managed to survive well without the government crutch. Not perfect though as there is still plenty of work to be done, as some of the poor Non Malays are just as poor (or worse) than poor Malays.
When the NEP was implemented, indirectly a “NEP” for Non Malays was created (let’s call it NEPNM for name sake). Have you ever wondered how NEPNM on paper would have looked like?
1. Objective
To reduce the economic gap between the poor (Non Malays) and “other race” (i.e. rich Non Malays).
If you are poor, you have to work yourself to reduce the gap and it does not matter if takes several generations to do that. . It does not help (emphasis) even if you are a veteran member of a particular political party. Some Malays also falls into this category.
2. Special assistance from Government
None. All sendiri tanggung lah. May get limited assistance from opposition political party, NGOs, friends, family members (most of the time) or Ah Longs (sometimes)
3. Personal input towards the policy
If you are not getting those butts working (not literally sense lah), it can say goodbye to your next meal. This meant being hard at work, dedicated and not being ashamed to do trivial and non-glamorous jobs (this may include selling pirated VCDs for Uncle Ho)
This also meant opting for education as much as possible (for example doing your Bachelor of Law part time while working like a dog as a junior clerk 6 days a week) so that you can get a better job and more money.
4. Possible shortcomings
Other than missing out on the nation’s wealth and opportunity for higher education and others (lazy to do the list lor), there may not be a serious shortcoming. In fact, it may be a blessing in disguise (no kidding) as NEPNM forges a breed of people, who are resilient, dedicated and strive for excellence (no choice mah, if don’t do all this, no soru (rice) lah).
The darker side of the shortcoming is that you are potentially an easy target for triad gangs to recruit you to be a member. This is because you are not educated enough or financially strong to be living a normal life.
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5. Possible solution to shortcomings
Due to that extra resilience, dedication to work and not opting for easy way out, you will be able to secure high paying job in overseas or do business on global basis. Once rich enough come back to Malaysia and setup trust for part finance the NEPNM implementation or assist the Non Malays in job opportunities (if Uncle Ho can do it…so can you)