Senator Ti hails Anwar’s support for his push for an inclusive Malay Economic Congress

Letter to editor

I AM touched by the response of the Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to my call during the last Dewan Negara seating to end the exclusively Malay Economic Congress by including all Malaysians.

I understand the difficulty faced by the unity government in transforming from a Malay centric political approach to the middle ground.

This is especially when emotions of the Malays are being hyped up again by extremists from UMNO, PAS and Bersatu to capture the Malay votes which will be the primary determinant of winning the 16^th General Election (GE16) come 2028.

(Editor’s note: Anwar who is also the Finance Minister said this year’s Bumiputera economic congress would see the participation of the Chinese and Indian chambers of commerce, particularly the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

“I hope ACCCIM is ready to discuss (such issues) because a more inclusive approach means that talking about the Bumiputera economy issues involving small and medium-sized enterprises or the poor among the Indian community will be addressed together,” he said at the ACCIM Chinese New Year celebration in Kuala Lumpur yesterday [Feb 16]).

I agree with the PM that to tackle our national economic issues, we require a comprehensive and inclusive approach.

It is for this very reason that I raised my concern that a congress solely for the Malays will be detrimental to the nation.

This is especially so when some politically powerful personalities abuse their position to force a change by means of equity or ownership transfer from non-Bumiputera to Bumiputera in the name of the New Economic Policy (NEP) or Bumiputera equities.

This had driven many investors away apart from causing good business to turn bad when the ownership was changed to a “politically driven” set up that is not business-friendly.

The late Health Minister and former MCA and later PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Chua Jui Meng had alleged that such political maneuverings did occur under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first premiership stint (1981-2003).

“Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (owned by MCA) was a huge conglomerate that could affect East Asian markets. It held the Malaysian French Bank, Bandar Raya Developments Bhd and large tracts of plantations and estates. It also had shipping interests,” the former Bakri MP had recalled.

“Yet (Tun) Ling Liong Sik who took over as the new MCA president had to sell it off for a mere RM500 mil. It was easily worth several times more.”

In view of the PM’s courage in taking up sensitive religious and racial issues in an objective manner in the greater interest of all Malaysians and towards a more inclusive government, I would like to again express my support and call upon all thinking progressive Malaysians irrespective of their ethnicity or religious background to continue to support what is right and uphold the rule of law.

Call a spade a spade and accord due credit; credit must be given when it is due. – Feb 16, 2024

Senator Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker was a former vice president of MCA.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.