Monday August 20, 2007

I have been fair, I want to be fair, I’ll always be fair

By WONG SAI WAN and ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has assured all Malaysians that his policies will be fair and equitable to all communities.

“I have been fair, I want to be fair and I will always be fair. This is my promise to you,” said Abdullah.

The Barisan Nasional chairman's pledge was greeted by thunderous applause from the more than 1,700 MCA delegates who listened attentively to his hour-long address before opening the 54th MCA annual general assembly at Wisma MCA's Dewan San Choon here yesterday.

Responding to a passionate speech by MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, who urged Barisan component parties to adhere strictly to the social contract agreed on by the country’s founding fathers, Abdullah said he agreed with Ong that consultation among all communities was important.

Zealous approval: Abdullah and MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting holding raised hands together while deputy party president Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and other leaders applaud at the annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — BRIAN MOH / The Star

Abdullah also stressed the importance of sincere leaders who take into account the interests of all races, are fair and just in their actions and consider the feelings of others in their decision-making.

“Leaders should not harbour intentions of isolating or discriminating against any race. This should never be done. If a leader tries to isolate a certain race, he is not fit to be a leader in this country,” he said.

On the sharing of the national economic cake, he said there was no government policy that specified that government contracts must only be given to Malays.

“There may have been some overzealous actions (in the implementation of policies) and if there were, we will correct this,” he added.

On behalf of the Chinese business community, Ong urged the Government to give the Chinese more opportunities to participate in government jobs and that they were willing to form joint-venture companies with the other communities.

Replying to this, Abdullah surprised his audience when he said: “If you can form a genuine joint-venture company with other races and not the Ali-Baba type, I promise you that I will give you contracts.”

“I’m not saying there must be 30% bumiputra participation. That is up to you, you decide among yourselves, but this must be a genuine cooperation – (it may be) Malay-Chinese, Malay-Indian, Chinese-Indian, everyone.

“Then we’ll give them priority consideration to secure projects.

“This means that they should all share the profits, losses and risks and also work hard together,” he added.

However, he stressed that no one community would get 100% of what it wanted.

Abdullah also said that under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, no programme or development project was aimed exclusively at any one community.

“We want to balance regional and sectoral development. We cannot have all the development concentrated in the Klang Valley alone.

“Whichever community happens to be in the region or sector will benefit from our policies and projects. For example, when we improve the lot of padi farmers, Chinese padi farmers will also benefit.”

Abdullah also said the younger post-independence generation should learn the meaning of consensus and patriotism.

“The presence of many young people who came to the Merdeka event in Malacca showed that these future leaders understand and embrace the aspirations of our country,” he added.

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