Their reliance on the government is defined by how well they game the system, which is why we get all these “corporate non-Malays” hooking up with Malay proxies to get on the gravy train.

The rest of the non-Malays, especially in the private sector, have to hustle to get by and the worry for them is that if government intervention, especially when it comes to religion, gets in the way of their economic rice bowls.

The non-Malays, having left to fend for themselves, have opened up economic, educational, and social spheres in which connective tissue has allowed the state to sustain a kleptocracy that has endured for decades. This is the Malaysian experience.

Indeed, if someone like Wahid is concerned about the lack of bumiputera participation in the private sector, well Mahathir also had his thoughts on that.

As reported in the press, Mahathir said: “Malays had failed because they were lazy and sought the easy way out by reselling their shares, licences and contracts to non-Malays.”  

He also said: “They cannot be patient, cannot wait a little. They want to be rich this very moment... no work is done other than to be close to people with influence and authority to get something… After selling and getting the cash, they come back to ask for more.”

And forget about all those entitlement programmes which people often term “poverty alleviation” programmes. We know that all those are complete bunkum.

Do not take my word for it. Take former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s words. He has admitted that all those poverty alleviation programmes were carried out by the vast bureaucracy and nobody had any idea about their effectiveness - “… that hitherto many ministries had programmes on poverty alleviation but there was no specific monitoring on their effectiveness”.

Not because monitoring these programmes would mean there would be transparency, but because many of these poverty alleviation programmes were part of the gravy train driven by bureaucrats, political operatives, and their various proxies.

Hence, all this talk of poverty alleviation, especially when it comes to the Malay community, is mired in the kind of corruption that plagues the mainstream political establishment.

So when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announces that an RM1 billion fund would be set up and managed by GLCs, you have to contrast this with what Mahathir said about a specific class of Malays - “They want to be rich this very moment... no work is done other than to be close to people with influence and authority in order to get something.”

Insanity or strategy?

But the real question people should be asking is this. Does the mainstream political establishment want the Malays not to depend on the government?

After all, this is not rocket science. Do you think that all these ketuanan types are dumb? Look, they may narcotise the majority with race and religion but they do not drink the Kool-Aid they are dispensing. 

They send their children to better schools. They ensure their children are competitive here and elsewhere and with the proper connections, they can earn their place on the gravy train.

Keep in mind, Mahathir created a Malay middle-class which was a combination of middle management in the public sector and the proxies in the private sector. 

Can you imagine if the majority ethnic group did not need the government? That they did not want to be under the shadow of the religious bureaucracy? That they were successful and independent enough to vote for political operatives who were not of the same race or religion as them and who wanted a secular and democratic system of governance?

This is what happens when people do not need the government, this is what happens when people coalesce around common goals and seek communion although from different religions and cultures.

Does a political system built around Malay rights and religious superiority really want these types of majority electorate?

A failure after six decades is not a mistake. It is a strategy.