Dr. Lim pointed out that the trend of entrenched poverty and growing income inequality amongst all races as indicated by the Gini coefficient of inequality worsening from 0.452 in 1999 to 0.462 in 2004 was clear evidence that wealth concentration was taking place at an unprecedented pace in the country. He expressed his concern that this wealth accumulation was being concentrated in the hands of the NEP and other trustees and various distributional coalitions, organized as cartels and seeking returns through collusion, patronage, high transaction costs and other forms of non-competitive deals and undertakings. The two key distributional coalitions are the political and bureaucratic but others coalitions also exist. What is important to note too is that membership of these wealth seeking, self-enriching coalitions often overlap as a result of kinship, professional and business ties.
Dr. Lim called for the opening up of the country’s Ninth Plan account books, including on NEP related targets and programs such as corporate equity distribution, to greater public transparency, scrutiny and oversight. He stated that according to a recent study conducted by the Centre, the country had already achieved the 30% target of Bumiputra equity ownership. He attributed Government figures of Bumiputra under-achievement to the use of an outmoded methodology for calculating share ownership as well as to the failure to take into account the rational profitable divestment of Bumiputra shares, following public listing, in search of better investment returns from other forms of investment. Dr. Lim pointed out that Bumiputra presence in the major modern sectors of the economy including banking, plantations, aerospace, defense, oil and gas, energy and utilities had not only grown tremendously but was also well entrenched. A strong Malay professional and business class had been built up during the past 30 years at an unprecedented speed – probably the fastest ever experienced by any marginalized community anywhere in the world and this group no longer needed special crutches. Policy emphasis should now be placed on nurturing competitiveness and excellence for all groups in the country, especially the SMEs, to enable the country to meet global challenges.
Dr. Lim stated that current in-house monitoring of the Plan and other key public policies had built-in weaknesses and limitations. He proposed instead that this work should be outsourced to representative bodies of Malaysians who have contributed in the various fields – education, social, cultural, business and administration. These multi-racial bodies should be empowered with terms of reference which would enable them to go beyond merely acting as advisory bodies. Such a move, together with the establishment of a fully independent Anti Corruption Agency and judiciary, could go a long way in bringing about the dismantling of the present system of entrenched groups that have a basic self interest in ensuring preservation and protection of their elite group interests and the present race and class based system in the country. It would also help the country move towards a less racially and class divided society as set out in the goals of Vision 2020.