Discrimination against Malays in the private sector is real, lets deal with it

The DAP is spewing all sort of racist innuendos to pit the Malays against the Chinese in their undying quest for political supremacy, the latest, they are now saying that Malays will find it difficult to find employment in the private sector as they are not able and lacking in quality.

I would not want to spoil this Lim's happiness as he and his merry friends obviously still lives in a coconut shell of racism, so I have only one small word for Lim when he said Malays lack in quality:

Here is a piece by one of my favorite Columnist, Shamsul Akmar taken from the NST:

Discrimination in the private sector

Shamshul Akmar

CONTENTIOUS ARGUMENT: It’s highly presumptuous to claim the private sector’s refusal to employ Bumiputeras is because of their lack of quality

THERE are several ways for Malays/Bumiputeras to react to reports quoting economist Dr Lim Mah Hui as saying that the private sector had not been keen to employ them because they are not able and lacking in quality.

Lim, a member of the DAP-led Penang government think tank, reportedly said this when debunking Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, who had contended that the private sector had not given much opportunity to Bumiputeras.

First, Bumiputeras can get all riled up, demand Lim to apologise and if he refuses, ostracise and label him with unsavoury tags. Or they can counter what he had said by pointing out that his statement is racist, condescending, stereotypical, a generalisation, unfounded and without basis, and unfitting to have been uttered by someone with academic credentials.

A report in an English daily on Sept 18 titled "Discrimination when hiring is rife, say job seekers" could shed light on the issue and provide points to ponder as to why Lim was so quick to conclude the issue with a condescending attitude towards Bumiputeras.

The report, among others, highlighted a study conducted by Universiti Malaya senior lecturer in development studies department Lee Hwok Aun and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia research fellow Muhammed Abdul Khalid, which showed that racial discrimination, at least, is very much prevalent in the private sector.

The report stated they were only able to conduct the study in the private sector with Lee saying the results showing Chinese applicants had an upper hand, was expected.

"I wanted to step back and examine the issue empirically and credibly," the report quoted Lee.

The study involved the distribution of resumes of fictitious Malay and Chinese candidates to real job advertisers and comparing the number of callbacks candidates of each race got.

In his analysis, Lee was quoted as saying: "The result of the experiment showed that in the private sector, race mattered. Chinese applicants are much more likely than Malay applicants to be called for an interview. Quality also matters, but much less so."

There are a lot of other details in the report. Suffice to say Lee, in the report, pointedly said, "Quality also matters, but much less so."

The academic, however, had a caveat: "We cannot confidently evaluate these arguments without further study. Emphatically, we must not be hasty to blame the discrimination we detect on malevolent motives and racial stereotyping, prejudice or bigotry."

Based on the research Lee had done, it would have been highly presumptuous on the part of Lim to make such a sweeping conclusion that the refusal of the private sector to employ Bumiputeras is because of the community's lack of quality.

Then what may have prompted Lim to say thus? Is it because he had done a study on the subject and the study is conclusive?

Lim may want to come out and prove that his remarks were not spawned from some deep-seated anti-Malay/Bumiputera sentiment but rather from his own findings that may help enlighten the lack in quality among the Bumiputeras, including the policy makers.

While he is at it, one thing seems to be conclusive, as all three -- Lim, Wahid and Universiti Malaya's Lee -- agree there is a lack of Bumiputera participation in the private sector and it is not from the lack of want on the part of the community but rather the refusal of the private sector to take them.

In short, if, all this while, it is merely suspicions or conjectures when raising issues about the lack of Bumiputera participation in the private sector, especially when such opinions may have come from the Bumiputeras themselves, now that it had come from the likes of Lim, such views can be deemed as fact.

If that is a fact, the debate now is why (there is lack of Bumiputera participation) and how (to increase their participation). If Lim's reason is the lack of quality, then the discrimination is not discrimination as merit is of essence. But the advocates of the New Economic Policy and affirmative action will argue that quality will be achieved with opportunities.

The argument put forth by Lim about quality is contentious, especially when he pointed his fingers at the civil servants, the majority being Bumiputeras, as examples of the lack in quality and incapability in producing results. Lest he forgets, the country enjoyed a double digit growth for almost a decade until the financial crisis of 1997/98.

In other words, the affirmative action was in full measure and the civil service shaped the nation's economic policies. The majority of the civil servants then were still Bumiputeras. For that, there is no necessity for the Bumiputeras to be apologetic for the affirmative action to the likes of Lim and others.

Then again, there will be the Malay/Bumiputera apologists who will argue that they are not against the affirmative action but rather the implementation. Their arguments are ambiguous and at best apologetic, not wanting to put forth what they actually want. The easiest way out is to say that the affirmative action had benefited only the Umnoputras.

Without doubt Umno members, as other Bumiputeras, had benefitted from it. But so did the Malay/Bumiputera apologists.

In fact, if observed closely, these Malay/Bumiputera apologists are actually highly successful.

Their opinions and views are very much sought after by those anti-affirmative action non-Bumiputeras to lead in politics, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and the media.

Or maybe, they are the ones Lim is referring to as lacking in quality. And wisdom is one quality stooges will never have.

Discrimination against Malays in the Private Sector is real, let us deal with it up close and personal.

A closing word on the DAP:

'That is why for our country to live in peace and harmony then we must first join hand to finish off DAP. Only then the real Unity can be achieved'

SYA source here.