As mentioned above, the problem is the race-based quota system which dedicates typically just 10% to 20% of places to non-Malays. No nation practices such blatant racism against its children. Yet, there is silence from nearly every corner, from the top institutions of the country to individual corporate leaders. One of the most racist education systems is simply accepted as the norm and no one is held accountable . With no leadership or unified voice on this matter, we are headed quietly for the iceberg, with the lives of young Malaysians, especially those from poor backgrounds, being dismantled or destroyed in the process.
Some national schools in KL have good reputations built on their past achievements, but racially discriminative polices have lowered standards. Many Malay children in these schools have innate potential that they should be allowed to unleash, but through healthy and fair competition. But this becomes a challenge because the system assures them an easy path to success irrespective of their grades or economic status. Thus it is only natural that they feel they do not have to work as hard as their non-Malay classmates.
When these Malay students achieve above average grades – four to five A grades – then the floodgates of Malay privilege will open for them. These include fast tracks into the best universities in the country, scholarships to the best universities in the world and, on their return, guaranteed jobs in the government or the Malay-dominated GLC ecosystem. Their future is assured. But the sad thing is that the more privileged their background the easier their path. Those left in their wake include the poor Malays who are already at a disadvantage given the bad-quality education they have received.
If you are non-Malay, your nightmare begins now, unless you are in the minority group of the wealthy. If you attain seven A grades or above, you are still not guaranteed a place in the top local universities because your Malay classmates with three A grades will be given priority, even if they are the children of million-dollar-a-month executives.
As a non-Malay, your parents and even extended family will now have to huddle to decide how to give you a proper chance in life because the system will do all it can to suppress your potential despite your hard work and excellent results.
The system wants to deny you your basic rights so that it can continue with its supremacist policies. It wants your parents to be bled of their savings. If they somehow manage to save to pay for the more expensive education options, the system will make it hard for you to get jobs in government departments or the gravy-train GLC ecosystem. Meanwhile slots will remain reserved for your Malay classmates who did not do as well as you but went to the best universities, funded by the state. They would have come back to jobs where they would typically not have to compete with you in a system devoid of meritocracy and steeped in racism, a system that includes even esteemed institutions like Petronas, PNB and Khazanah. You would have to be twice as good to get in.
Yet you, the non-Malay, will find a way and will emerge stronger and better. In a perverse way, by being stoical and tolerant of blatant racism as a child, you have in-built resilience and a great chance to succeed as a professional. You are helping to build the country. You fortify the country against the risks arising from the lack of meritocracy in key institutions, which allows many of your Malay classmates to reach elevated positions and earn shockingly high salaries without competing with you. You become the backbone of the country. Without you, the economy of the country would be in tatters. By staying and building the country, you have become a proud patriot, the true Bumiputera.
And what of your Malay classmates? They too are victims of this racism. Institutional racism is a sickness they catch by being ensnared in it. These innocents are being indoctrinated to become racists. As adults, they will learn to defend their privileges, and this helps to further prop up institutional racism. But more troubling, they are being diminished by these very privileges, which do not allow them to fulfill their full potential. Their value systems are stuck in the swamp of racism and privilege. Many who rise to elevated positions no longer even notice this. The gravy is too tasty to allow values to get in the way.
