Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| After brain drain, now capital flight? Posted: 07 Oct 2011 04:07 PM PDT
The flip flops by BN on the abolishment of racial quotas under the NEM, the inability of MACC to make an effective dent on systemic corruption, the tolerance provided by the government towards Perkasa and the prolonged debate on PPSMI have all raised the level of uncertainty within the minority racial communities in Malaysia. Kapil Sethi, The Malaysian Insider PNB's takeover bid of SP Setia, merger talks between OSK Holdings and RHB Capital and Sime Darby taking over 30 per cent of E&O have set alarm bells ringing in the business community despite the prime minister's reassurance that the deals are strictly on a willing buyer-willing seller basis. For one, these deals fly in the face of the government's avowed determination to let the private sector be the engine of economic growth while it takes on the role of a facilitator. Where is the rationale then for the government taking over the management of relatively well-run private businesses? Even more significantly what is worrying is not the nature of the transactions themselves but the racial undertones to these deals. In most instances the sellers are Chinese and the buyers government linked companies. Even where the government is not involved, there are reports of major Chinese-owned conglomerates like Genting and YTL diversifying out of the country by making significant investments overseas. While it is nobody's case to argue that businesses should not be able to take corporate decisions as they see fit, are these isolated cases or part of a larger trend towards a minority community losing faith in Malaysia and expressing it through capital flight and physical migration? As it is, the World Bank recently estimated the size of the Malaysian diaspora at close to 1 million. Even more tellingly, 88 per cent of the Malaysian diaspora in Singapore with tertiary education is of ethnic Chinese origin. Decades of affirmative action has to a large extent contributed to this phenomenon, but recent statements from both sides of the political divide may have exacerbated the problem. The flip flops by BN on the abolishment of racial quotas under the NEM, the inability of MACC to make an effective dent on systemic corruption, the tolerance provided by the government towards Perkasa and the prolonged debate on PPSMI have all raised the level of uncertainty within the minority racial communities in Malaysia. If the growing emasculation of MCA at the hands of Umno is added to the mix, the picture for those ethnic minority supporters of BN looking for a continuation of its largely tolerant past begins to look bleak. The opposition too has not helped matters with PAS' strident stand on the hudud issue backed by Anwar Ibrahim's tacit "personal" endorsement of the same. DAP, despite its protestations of leaving PR if hudud is implemented, seems to be risking its support from its primarily ethnic Chinese base by its inability to rein in its coalition partners on this issue. Unless PR is able to revert to a unified position based on its vision of Malaysia as a merit- and needs-based welfare state rather than a theocratic Islamic state, it risks losing its support amongst the liberal educated urban voter across all racial communities, which have been its most vocal supporters so far. When social justice and economic equality are not forthcoming and both political options seem to be inimical to the minority interest, leaving the country for greener pastures may seem to be the only solution for some people. This has critical implications for the current and future competitiveness of Malaysia in the global economy. If the tipping point is reached (if it has not been already), the extent of human and capital flight will result in the country struggling to retain its current economic position, far from accelerating towards developed nation status. The current woes of MAS and TNB under government appointed boards and the lack of high quality local talent across business sectors are symptomatic of what the future of Malaysia could look like if these issues are left to fester.
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