Poetic Justice

Umno Youth Public Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Subahan Kamal had an “innovative suggestion” to curb the rising of unemployment of Bumiputera graduates – many of whom were resorting to driving taxis. Quite understandable, since it is “inconceivable” for someone with a degree to ever be considered driving a taxi.

More interestingly, he contended that the blame for this present state of affairs lay with the Human Resources Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Fong Chan Onn for “neglecting unemployed Bumiputera graduates”. His “brilliant suggestion” was that the ministry should enforce a 30 per cent quota for Bumiputeras at all levels in the private sector and ensure that locals were given preference over foreigners. From the link, it is quite clear what some fellow members of the Bar thought of his suggestion.

To some extent I share the sentiments of those members of the Bar but what cannot be denied is that unemployment of graduates, Bumiputera or otherwise, is a cause for concern. Even so, the cure for that pain cannot immediately be said to lie with the private sector to justify the imposition of that 30% employment quota for Bumiputera graduates.

To prescribe the appropriate remedy for this issue, there must be proper assessment of the cause of the pain and the usual suspects calling for consideration in that regard are as follows:

1. The education system – needs reformation so as to produce Bumiputera graduates who are able to compete for employment at the job market. There is quite a bit to be said here but I think it suffices to invite interested readers to peruse Dr. Bakri Musa’s website (e.g. the post relating to the Zahid Nordin report). Part of the reformation may involve “slowing education” down.
2. The media – for far too long, there has been an abdication of responsibility by the (old?) media. Sensationalism and fluff takes centre stage in Malaysia media. Broadly speaking, the end result has been a society bereft of ability to engage in critical thinking.
3. The government – needs to reconsider its social and political policies. Specifically, it has to reconsider encouraging a culture of parochial thinking in Malaysia. Further, it has to recognize the value of knowledge and encourage a culture of “know how” within its ranks by reconfiguring its recruitment policies to select graduates from respectable universities. Over and above recruitment policies, it has to also cultivate a system which rewards “know how” as opposed to “know who”. That aside, the government may also have to look at its bureaucratic structure and incentives in dealing with employment issues particularly where foreigners wish to set up operations in Malaysia.
4. The employers – The usual complaints of employers are that too much is being demanded from their end. Employers need to consider whether their demands from local employees are out of sync with the demands of the international employers.

In any event, what seems clear is that the assessment will take some time. So, what do we do in the short term?

First off, it goes without saying that the mathematics of quotas in this respect will only lead to less competitive local graduates. Somehow, I suspect that this is not something that would be in the nation’s interest. For that reason implementation, even in the short term, of such an employment quota is something that should be seriously reconsidered.

Secondly, my counter-argument to such thinking is simply this – previous privileges, meant for the “short term” have stretched the normal dictionary meaning of that phrase. For that reason, it may not be sensible to introduce more privileges even for the “short term”.

Reservations aside, the answer to that question may lie in adopting retraining schemes to redress the deficiencies which those graduates may posssess. However, given past experience, it may be best if such schemes are implemented at national institutions but with participation of instructors from the private sector.

All said and done, let us not forget about the plight of the non-Bumiputera graduates. Unemployment, after all, is not confined to Bumiputera graduates.

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