Affirmative action led to bloated bureaucracy

ST Forum, The Straits Times, April 7, 2007


THE article on jobs in Malaysia, 'Big rush for positions in public sector' (ST, March 12), overlooked the negative effects of affirmative action for bumiputeras on the job market. For years, the government mass-produced graduates to fill the race quota, paying scant attention to their marketability. The result: graduates who are mostly uncompetitive and unsuitable for the private sector.

It was the Mahathir administration's aim to create a Malay middle class through affirmative action. This fitted its plan to raise the income level of this group. The government thus absorbed these graduates, with the aim of income redistribution.

The folly of this practice became apparent to the government only when the financial crisis struck in 1997. This is one of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 'legacies' that Premier Abdullah Badawi is trying to dismantle without success.

As a result, Malaysia has a hugely bloated bureaucracy. A recent United Nations report cited the overwhelmingly numerous steps government departments in Malaysia take to approve a business application. Is it any surprise that Malaysia's talks with the United States on a free-trade agreement 'seem dead in the water', to quote ST's US Bureau chief, Mr Derwin Pereira?


Tan Yip Meng