BUMIPUTERA businessmen see the rescinding of the mandatory 30 per cent bumiputera quota requirement
for companies seeking to list on the Bursa Malaysia as a "wake-up call" or bumiputera businessmen.

"Most of them deserve this kick in the back because the majority have not seized this golden opportunity to help themselves wean off their crutches," businessman and lawyer Mansoor Saat told Malay Mail yesterday.

Being a product of the New Economic Policy (NEP), Mansoor said he made use of the opportunities to improve
himself and now "stands on his own two feet".

"But many never used the opportunity to better themselves. They thought that by just being a sleeping partner,
the show will go on forever," he said.

Mansoor, who is into the information technology business, believes the Prime Minister was left with no choice but to dismantle impediments to economic growth.

"In the face of crumbling trade barriers all over the world, the Prime Minister was actually left with no choice but to dismantle the 30 per cent bumi equity to spur economic growth and encourage foreign investments," he said.

Besides, Mansoor reasoned that the Prime Minister rescinded the policy after realising that it had not eradicated  "Ali Baba" practices and not made bumiputera businessmen more dynamic or self-reliant.

The implementation of the policy was not effective and many deserving cases did not benefit from the policy.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in announcing a series of economic measures,
explained that the policy changes had to be made because of the drastic changes in the global economic
scenario since the inception of the NEP and the failure of the Foreign Investment Committee to produce the desired results of increasing the bumiputera equity.

In welcoming the move, a member of the Bumiputera Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kuala Lumpur, Syed Akbar Ali, said bumiputera interests were still safeguarded with the new requirement of 50 per cent of the mandatory 25 per cent share offer during listing of new companies given to bumiputeras.

"When companies go public, 25 per cent of the shares must be sold to the public. Now from the 25 per cent,
50 per cent or 12.5 per cent of 25 per cent must be offered to bumiputeras," said the former member of the
National Economic Action Council, during the premiership of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

"However, there should have been a safeguard to prevent bumiputeras from selling their shares immediately.

If not it will suffer the same fate as the NEP,"  he said.

"Some RM45 billion worth of shares had been allocated to bumiputeras under the 30 per cent bumiputera equity under the NEP. But only RM2 billion worth of shares remain in bumiputera hands. Some RM43b worth of shares have been sold to non-bumiputeras," he added.