Bumiputera first, Citizen second.

When we discuss Malaysia, one of the major separation points between the people as a whole is the "Bumiputera" issue.

Now bear in mind, this issue is so sensitive that it is protected by the Malaysian Federal Constitution, and a mis-step here could very well land me in jail.

Here's the thing about Malaysia. Everyone is considered a citizen. The Malays, Chinese, Indians, and of course, as the government continually labels them, the others (dan lain-lain).

However, to be regarded as a bumiputera, you have to be both Malay, and a Muslim. But in recent times, converts into Islam have also been granted bumiputera status as well.

In my case, I'm a genetic combination of four races, being Malay, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian. Judging by the number of immigrant workers from our neighboring country, you could say I'm basically from the four largest populations on the Peninsular.

So what's the difference between a Bumiputera and a citizen?

A bumiputera, has privileges, granted to them by the Malaysian Federal Constitution.

These privileges include a quota for university entrances, a quota for businesses (which now has been relaxed by the current administration), a quota for scholarships, a discount on real estate purchases and, of course, a quota on owning corporations within the nation.

Which basically means if you want to start investing or opening a branch of your foreign business in Malaysia, you need to find a Bumiputera backer locally as the major investor.

Personally, I don't agree with the Bumiputera privilege scheme as it is per se. This is due to the fact that the current statuses of granting these privileges is not based on income or welfare, but merely on the criteria of race and religion. This allows the privileges to be abused by the genetically lucky, rich bigots.

And of course, these are the very bigots who preach within the political party that is UMNO that the Opposition wishes to undo the rights of the Malays.

You'd notice that they mention the rights of the Malays, not the Bumiputeras as a whole.

I also do not agree with the quota system in terms of education because it is creating a youth that is very easily influenced to be compliant by virtue of being thankful.

If a nation does a policy to support a student, it should be based solely on giving the student a chance to excel and later serve the nation. However, in Malaysia, the way things work is that the government is giving out scholarships and loans to ensure that the youth who receives such support the government as per status quo, and not merely the nation.

Basically, what it means is this: If you vote for the Opposition, you're not being thankful to us.

You can see the difference right now, I'm pretty sure of it.

As for the real estate discount, as a Bumiputera myself, I'm grateful for it. Honestly, imagine being able to own a RM300,000 house with a 11% discount. That's a combination of two perks, since I work in a corporation that does property development as well.

However, what about the rest of the Bumiputeras?

The indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, being the Iban, Bidayuh, Kadazan, Dusun, etc. are all considered Bumiputeras as well. Similarly the Mah Meri in Selangor, which is my state.

These people are eligible for a housing discount, but will not want to leave their cultures and traditions, so what exactly is this perk to them?

It won't mean much. Instead, wouldn't it be better off to give them rights to the land they currently reside on?

So why not offer them land rights instead?

Also, the privilege of buying a real estate at a discount is not based on income, as I've mention earlier. In other words, a Malaysian corporate businessman making RM3 million a year is stilll getting this discount.

Why exactly would you want to grant such a person the same discount as equivalent to those making perhaps RM2000 a year?

And what is so wrong with offering such a discount based on income instead of race and religion?

Now while I consider myself a patriot to the nation, I sometimes wonder how exactly such biased privileges by notion of birth could have survived since the 1970s.

And while I have parents who still seem to think that such racial privileges are required to help the Bumiputera, year after year I will continue to ask:

Does it matter what race you are if you're poor and in need of federal level welfare?

Sadly in this nation, such a requirement is still required. It seems in this nation, a person is Bumiputera first, a citizen second.