Malaysia claims to be an 'open' economy, a 'free' society and

a leading 'welfare' state and a 'unified civilised' society,

but even today the country is still guilty of human exploitation.

Below is the general layout of present-day Malaysian society:

____________________________
| |
| UMNOPUTRAS |
|___________________________|
|
_______________|______________
| |
| BN SUPPORTERS |
|_____________________________|
|
______________|_____________
| |
| THE GENERAL POPULACE |
|___________________________|
|
______________|______________
| |
| THE LEGAL FOREIGN WORKERS |
|____________________________|
|
_______________|________________
| |
| THE DISADVANTAGED MINORITIES |
| AND THE POOR |
|_______________________________|
|
_________________|___________________
| |
| THE ILLEGAL FOREIGN WORKERS |
|___________________________________|

The BN ruling class mainly made up of the UMNOputras and their

apologist BN compatriots are known to be a rather corrupt and
untrustworthy and shady group of politicians who have never
hesitated to use the resources of the government, including the
law enforcement agencies and the mass media to maintain their
grip on power and to exploit others for vast material rewards.

The BN has unethically pursued a policy of subtle discrimination

against the country's minority groups for the past thirty or so
years and only those who were the active and close supporters of
government policy were able to get some relief or exemption.

The worst off were those living in urban slums, rural estates and
the interior. Crime was bad and the police were brutal while the
BN politicians and their minions lived in luxury and high comfort.
Wheeling and dealing was very acceptable and many politicians were
secret millionaires. There was even one episode of a BN politician
caught at a foreign airport with a briefcase full of cash that was
eventually confiscated by the authorities. Many others so regularly
went on unofficial overseas trips they became known as 'playboy'
politicians.
Today, even with a more effective and freer information industry,
the BN politicians still have not shed their unethical or immoral
ways. Many of them today are still deeply involved in shady deals,
corruption and money politics. Licences to run businesses are still
being allocated or given out to their supporters no matter if such a
practice invariably leads to human exploitation. The giving out of
licences and permits to 'import' foreign workers so that the country
could enjoy cheap and 'obedient' (and expendable) workers is surely
most nauseating to those who believe in honesty and good conduct.

This practise has actually been intensified under the current regime
of A. Badawi and even more alarming is the fact that illegal foreign
workers are now coming in with greater numbers than before. Many of
these people are from immediate neighbouring countries but customs
and practices still differ and a lot of them in the end lost their
jobs due to misunderstandings and also as a result of raw unmitigated
exploitation by unscrupulous employers who often have links to many
insiders within the law enforcement agencies.

Some of the desperate foreigners took to crime as a way to survive

but eventually they got their due rewards from the business end of
police revolvers. Due to the hazards of their sombre occupation,
these foreigners often do not hesitate to use extreme violence on
their victims. Robbery victims are often slashed, beaten up, raped
or even killed during and after the crime was committed.

Meanwhile, the country's youths, especially those who did not do

well in school have only dim prospects of securing a stable future
in the so-called 'civilised' and 'high-degree-of-welfare' society
that is claimed to exist here. Many of them could not compete with
the cheap and obedient foreign workers in the country and in the
end they turn to hawking pirated goods, handbag snatching, drug
peddling, carjacking, card counterfeiting and vice activities.

And yet, now, we get assailed by the news that 70,000 workers from
Bangladesh are coming over to assume jobs that are supposedly stil
available despite the present economic meltdown. This is surely most
ludicrous when their workers who are already here are living and
staying without a proper roof over their heads, having to make do
with sleeping under bridges, inside parks and building sites. And
all the while our factories and offices are shedding excess workers.

The present BN government is thoroughly guilty of human exploitation

not only of foreign workers but also of our ignorant and pitifully
unfortunate young people. The real beneficiaries of this policy are
the individuals and organisations who blindly and unabashedly support
the corrupt and immoralist conduct of the ruling class. They get to
ride around in luxurious cars, live in fancy homes, wear ostentatious
jewellery and celebrate weddings in showy and wanton styles.

The sin of human exploitation is never bereft of eventual retribution.

The present economic and financial meltdown is now expected to last
much longer than initially anticipated, perhaps two years or more. In
two or three or four years time, social discord in Malaysia would most
probably have reached boil over point and this would also be at about
the due date of the next general elections and the BN will have just
no way out except to face its due reckoning from the furious public.