Businesses should make profit, not drive Bumi economic agenda

Diyana Ibrahim Diyana Ibrahim Updated 4 years ago · Published on 9 Nov 2019 9:57PM · 8 Comments

Economist Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez says if Malaysian Chinese tycoons are to be held to account, then so should their Malay contemporaries. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Kamal Ariffin, November 9, 2019.

BUSINESSES should not be counted on to implement the government’s socio-economic agenda to uplift Bumiputeras, because profit should be the core motivation for a company, economist Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez said.

Speaking at a forum today during an exchange on Malay affirmative action policies, Gomez said profit-making and social work should not mix.

Serious businessmen would not want to introduce risk to their enterprises by taking on a government agenda, he added.

“We still don’t understand this simple matter… when people start businesses, they want profits.

“Businessmen don’t do business to get into social work. If they did, they would go bankrupt,” Gomez said during the forum Malaysia’s Dilemma: The Future of Race-Based Policies at the Youth Economic Forum 2019 conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

The prominent economist was taking questions about why the Malays were still behind economically, despite incentives from the government, and what was the best way to close the wealth gap between races.

Another forum panellist, Malay Economic Action Council CEO Ahmad Yazid Othman, said during the session that Malays were left behind because they were not helped by major corporations run by Malaysian Chinese.

Yazid named as examples, YTL Corporation Bhd and the Berjaya Group, which are run by tycoons Francis Yeoh and Vincent Tan.

This prompted Gomez to ask whether Malay corporate giants had helped the Bumiputera community.

Gomez said since non-Malay tycoons were being questioned, the same could be asked of Malay tycoons like Halim Saad, Tajuddin Ramli, Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir and Samsudin Abu Hassan.

Gomez said corporations should not be blamed if they did not implement the Bumiputera economic agenda because this was not their role.

Meanwhile, Yazid suggested that the government implement a “unity index” within private companies to ensure there was no racial discrimination in the private sector.

Such an index could indirectly help Malays when facing job discrimination in terms of salary and opportunities, he said.

“Companies that promote diversity and racial unity through policies that are fair for all races can be rewarded by the government,” he suggested. – November 9, 2019.

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • Such an intellectual!

    Posted 4 years ago by H. Mokhtar · Reply

  • Yazid oh Yazid , its because of chaps like you that Bumis continue to experience let down by the mercy political powers that be. You have such a tunnel vision. Similarly can you also accept that govt depts should also practice meritocracy?
    Until you truly empower the bumi community to be able to fish on their own, Malaysia will never rise out of its racial conundrum. And while youre still fantasising about your tongkat, countries like China and Vietnam are moving so far ahead because they have trained their people to be independent

    Posted 4 years ago by Rock Hensem · Reply

  • Why no "unity index" in the public sector?

    Posted 4 years ago by Gerard Lourdesamy · Reply

  • Yazid - tongkat tongkat Everyday . Where is your Malay dignity?

    Posted 4 years ago by Kinetica Cho · Reply

  • Why is there 1:9 unity index in the tertiary education sector?

    Posted 4 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Prof Gomez is correct. The business of business is business. However, the Government can still promote the Bumi agenda if we can afford it by giving generous tax incentives to businesses that meet the bumi quota. business owners can that evaluate if it makes business sense to suffer the loss in competitiveness or productivity by hiring or promoting the less qualified in exchange for the tax incentives. And if they happen to have a bumi employee that made it on merit, then they stuck gold.

    Posted 4 years ago by Yoon Kok · Reply

    • *Business owners can then

      Posted 4 years ago by Yoon Kok · Reply

  • For that Yazid Othman to place blame immediately on the non-malty businesses is just typical of why things just don't improve. When will people like him learn to think differently?

    Posted 4 years ago by Sunita petrus · Reply