Badawi can dispute with Kuan Yew that Malaysian Chinese are compliant. But he can not dispute with Kuan Yew that the Malaysian Chinese are systematically marginalized in business and employment just as in education by discriminatory policies such as quotas and different university entrance exams. That is why Abdullah should prove Kuan Yew wrong with deeds and not words by removing discriminatory education policies that uses quotas as well as implementing a common university entrance examination system.

HSC and matriculation examinations are treated equally yet have caused great disparity when the HSC exam is so much harder. This is proven by university results of top students of HSC outperforming greatly the top matriculation students in the critical faculty of medicine or engineering.

Badawi should take a different approach from the hypocritical allegations by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in asking how many Malays are holding top positions in the Singapore government. Mahathir has no right to practice double-standards ask these questions when there are no Chinese holding top positions in armed forces or police. There is not even a non-Malay Vice-Chancellor in a public university or a Mayor in any Peninsular Malaysian city.

DAP states that Kuan Yew is half-right in that not only the Chinese are systematically marginalized in Malaysia. The Indians, poor Malays, orang aslis and bumis from East Malaysia are also marginalized. After all Sabah has the highest poverty rate in the country at 23% in 2004.

All Malaysians Face Marginalisation

The United Nations Human Development Report consistently list Malaysians as suffering the worst income inequality between the rich and poor in South-East Asia. This is conceded by the Ninth Malaysian Plan (9MP) which showed the share of income of the bottom 40% of the population declined from 14.5% in 1990 to 13.5% in 2004 whilst the share of the top 20% of the population increased from 50% in 1990 to 51.2% in 2004.  The income inequality amongst ethnic groups was worst amongst Malays.

Not many Malaysians, whether Malay or non-Malay are rich like UMNO, MCA or MIC millionaires. How many Malays own APs or shares or are millionaires like UMNO Youth Deputy President Khairy Jamaluddin who can own RM 9.2 million worth of shares or like Datuk Roslan Hashim who can spend RM 3.5 million for his wedding or Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi who can afford to give RM 42 million worth of properties and RM 1 million cash to  his former wife.

Not many non-Malays are as rich as MCA Deputy Youth President Ling Hee Leong who became the youngest billionaire at 27 years old when he borrowed RM 1.2 billion to purchase 3 publicly listed companies.

UMNO claims that the 30% bumi equity in the NEP has not been achieved. This is another desperate attempt to distract attention from the fact that in terms of market capitalization bumi corporate share has exceeded 45% with more than RM 325 billion. Clearly UMNO wants to avoid being questioned by the poor Malays who are the rich Malays who have benefited from this RM 325 billion.

It is therefore important that Malaysians do not allow the issue of Chinese being marginalized, which is a fact, to detract from the serious issue that all Malaysians including poor Malays are marginalized by UMNO’s discriminatory policies that benefit the few BN leaders at the expense of ordinary Malaysians.