Malaysia’s economy just got a US$33 billion boost from China... so why the unhappiness?
Deals by PM Najib have stoked resentment of Chinese influence among ethnic Malays, but they could be among the big winners if they play their cards right
The rumblings of discontent started before Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had even set foot back on home soil.
While some of his countrymen saw his recent visit to China as a groundbreaking feat that would boost the nation’s flagging economy – he did, after all, secure deals worth RM144 billion (HK$258 billion) – others, in particular the country’s opposition parties, accused him of selling Malaysia’s sovereignty and compromising its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where the two countries are in dispute.
Businessmen complained they could be overwhelmed by cash-rich Chinese companies, stoking discontent among ethnic Malays – the two-thirds of the population known as the bumiputra or sons of the soil.
Many bumiputra already resent Chinese influence, despite enjoying special privileges over Chinese Malaysians in university admissions, scholarships and civil service jobs under affirmative action policies enshrined in the country’s constitution.
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“Obviously it will create resentment. The majority in this country already feels provoked by the Malaysian Chinese and their grasp of the economy,” said a young ethnic Malay entrepreneur.