opinion

Comical yet not funny contradictions

Hafidz Baharom

It is the start of 2016 and already we have comically unfunny things happening in our nation. You would have thought that maybe we might be bereft of such idiocy in the new year but it seems not all wishes come true.

In the case for Malaysia, two things happened that were reported in the news that just didn't make sense. But then again, nothing makes sense in the news these days.

Let us start things off with the head of our Performance and Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Tan Sri Idris Jala. We all know he is a bright guy, insisting on looking at the brighter side of things to the point that he may or may not continually have The Lego Movie's "Everything is awesome" playing non-stop in his office, or his own head.

That being said, he recently did an interview with local English daily The Star which had a mind boggling quote.

According to Idris, the DAP should stop griping about the local economy because the "cake" is limited. Instead, he says, the political entity should be encouraging our local Chinese businesses to go overseas.

I find this a bit hard to understand. How is it that we want our local business entities – especially government-linked companies (GLC) – to keep their money in the country and even have the government tell them to bring the money back, yet this guy wants the Chinese businesses to leave?

In fact, didn't the Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pekerja (KWAP) just recently announce selling off their London investment to adhere to this directive?

In fact, aren't some GLCs seeing their desire to invest overseas intervened by our own Finance Ministry?

A fact some journalist out there might want to explore further, perhaps.

So, isn't what Idris is saying contradictory to what our government wants?

And in parallel, Idris is saying this when a GLC in the form of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) just sold off 60% of shares in Bandar Malaysia to a mainland Chinese firm.

So perhaps Idris can explain why he is basically telling the Malaysian Chinese to bugger off to a foreign land to make way for the mainland Chinese?

Now we move on to the second piece of news, and this one is as awkward as the first.

This one involves the recently established, Bumiputera-only Mara Digital Mall scheme. As you all remember, the idea for this digital mall was to assist the Bumiputeras in establishing a foothold in the IT and telecommunications retail sector without having to go through middle men who would impinge on cost.

Well, in the last week, the minister in charge assured everyone that the goods sold at this mall were all original because all of it was vetted by a single company called WGN Innovation Frontiers. This is odd because there are a few things that have been left out.

Firstly, do the mall tenants have to pay for this authentication services? Or is this part of the 6-month rent free package Mara is providing for the tenants?

Second, and more importantly, was this done via tender or direct negotiations?

Pardon me for not paying attention to the classifieds, but I would like to know who the heck approved what is basically an IT gadget version of Puspakom, and I think the minister must answer these queries.

Thirdly, if this minister insists on wanting to assist the Bumiputera by removing the middle men which increases the price, then why for all that is holy, did he introduce a middle man himself?

Isn't that also yet another contradiction to their own thoughts on assisting the Bumiputeras?

We all want to assist others not only in competing in business but also those who wish to gain access to our markets. We are talking about businesses which I am sure can gain enough profits in a market base of 30 million consumers to make a healthy living.

And yet, here is the government not only telling the Malaysian Chinese population specifically to get out (yet again), but also telling the Malays they shouldn't go through a middle man unless it's a Bumiputera middle man?

Like I said, these are comical yet unfunny.

This government talks a good game about wanting to make way for everyone to earn a living, about wanting to help the Bumiputeras advance further in businesses and become competitive traders. But if we take a closer look, their very actions contradict everything they supposedly stand for.

These are the very reasons that there is growing resentment towards the government.

As one former Malaysian deputy minister said, Malaysians are not stupid. It is time the Malaysian public proves how true this is by constantly questioning this government and it's comical contradictions. – January 12, 2016.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.