The proposal was raised on Monday by Moehamad Izat Emir, the President of the Malaysian Malay Businessmen and Industrialists Association, who complained that Bumiputera businessmen were finding it difficult to get premises to operate from.
Speaking to FMT, a lecturer in Universiti Malaya’s Business and Accounting Faculty said any form of interference in market forces could result in injustices.
“If the situation is indeed true, we must determine whether it is due to market forces or due to the deliberate actions of the owners to deny Bumiputeras the opportunity to buy or rent the lots,” said Professor Mohd Nazari Ismail.
“If market forces are the reason, then a quota policy will be counterproductive and unjust to the owners or developers of the business premises.”
He gave two examples of such market forces: the Bumiputera vendors’ inability to obtain funds to buy or rent the lots and their inability to convince owners of business premises of the viability and profitability of their proposed businesses.
He said imposing quotas should be a “last resort”, not only because it would be unjust, but also because it would encourage inefficiency.
Another expert, Professor Emeritus Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin of Universiti Sains Malaysia, questioned whether Moehamad Izat’s proposal was backed by any survey.
“You can’t just come out and say you need this 30 per cent,” he told FMT. “You need to have a survey first to see whether there really is a need.
“Are the Bumiputeras asking for it? If they are, are you sure 30 per cent is enough? Or do they need even more?”
He agreed with Nazari that quota policies were unjust.
“Unless other races are monopolising these premises, you can’t justify having a quota policy. Whatever policy you come up with has to be fair to all ethnic groups and must result in a win-win situation.”
He alleged that such policies in the past had benefited only Bumiputeras from the elite group.
“How are you going to ensure that only deserving Bumiputeras will benefit? Can you be certain that if you allocate this 30 per cent, the members of the elite won’t take over the lots and rent them out?
“So far, this has been the sort of problem we have with policies such as this.”