Something to hide? Cabinet kept race quotas as private sector really discriminates Bumis who don’t know Mandarin?

Now that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa has confirmed that it was a Cabinet decision to maintain the 90:10 Bumiputera quota for intakes in the Matriculation course which expanding the placements from 15,000 to 40,000, his insistence that all quarters must stop issuing statements on this issue (Malaysiakini, 21 May 2019) raises more questions than answers.

1) Why is Dr Mujahid trying to stifle constructive criticism against the Cabinet decision just one year into office? This contravenes the principles of the rakyat being the bosses as bandied by Pakatan since the days of Reformasi 21 years ago.

2) Is this really a New Malaysia when there are semblances of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad’s iron fisted ways from the 1980s which denied public scrutiny or discourse about Cabinet decisions?

3) How will the Opposition or the rakyat be enabled to serve as a check-and-balance against the federal government if PH is going muzzle voices who desire an even playing field and out with racial rhetoric of the past?

4) As Dr Mujahid has voiced his support for Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, are DAP Cabinet Ministers likewise in consonance that Matriculation quota intakes must be retained as the private sector discriminates against Bumiputeras who do not know Mandarin? In short, was it a collective Cabinet ?

5) Is there a gag order among PH Ministers and hence, none of them dare to challenge this decision?

6) Is the gag order intended to hide PH’s indefensible justification to retain the 90:10 Matriculation quota?

7) Has Dr Mujahid now just unwittingly disclosed that the preamble for this polarising Cabinet decision to keep the Bumiputera quota is the baseless racial rhetoric that Bumiputera candidates are denied employment opportunities in the commercial world?

If this is the case, then the PH Cabinet certainly looks down on the talents and experience of Bumiputera job applicants who successfully land job on their own merit and not on the basis of race.

The public is not uttering anything slanderous, but rather, airing their disillusionment over being “short-changed” by PH after voting them into office as there is still no “ubah” at all despite the promises of openness and a democratic government. Meritocracy and justice as aspired by the rakyat and presented by PH have flown out of the window. Therefore, all the high idealistic promises as contained in the PH Manifesto are now exposed as mere fishing baits.

Ryan Ho Kwok Xheng
MCA National Youth Spokesperson



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