Will the SME Bank listen to the Prime Minister? Yesterday's headlines in the Star caught my attention and prompted me to read the entire news piece. The venerable Prime Minister, the most powerful man in the country, appealed to the SME Bank to process loan applications without a racial bias. Apparently Chinese businessmen were being systematically denied loans based primarily on their ethnicity. While I cannot say for certain this was the reason, for the Prime Minister to come out and ask the bank to play fair, what other reasons can there be? And shouldn't heads roll seeing that this shameful practice was being perpetuated right under the nose of the big man himself? But it won't. Because that's not the Malaysian way you see. Perhaps under the current scrutiny of the media, the bank may grudgingly allow some Chinese businessmen (hey, maybe even an Indian or two) some access to much-needed capital. In a few months or so, the cyle will recommence. I have lived long enough in this country to think otherwise. And pretty soon, in a few months, the Prime Minister will have to appeal again to the SME Bank to drop its racial bias. Can one blame the SMEs which are largely Chinese, if they find ways not to repatriate their foreign exchange earnings back into the country, when the government entrusted with a sacred promise to help all Malaysian businesses continues to disappoint them with racist behaviour which would make the South African apartheid regime of the past proud?

The days of 8 percent annual growth is unlikely to happen again. Malaysia's manufacturing prowess is still somewhat intact due to the SME community. The irony of this entire episode screams out. A nimble group of capable, resourceful businessmen who may answer Malaysia's call to forge a competitive niche in the global market, is being systematically undermined by a government unit.

The crux of the matter is institutional racism, which has no place in an increasingly globalised world. A lot of our government-run institutions are wracked by this malaise, but I fear in the next decade or so, Malaysia will pay a terrible price for this extremely short-sighted, repugnant policy. I think the effect of the globalising world is already biting at our heels. Malaysia used to be a top destination for foreign direct investment in ASEAN just a decade ago; now we are a measly fourth behind Indonesia and Thailand. We may be fifth in line pretty soon by the looks of a booming Vietnam by next year.

A weak Prime Minister is not much of a help either with what the media gloriously termed a man who rules by consensus and not fear. The problem is that in the last three years, the Prime Minister has not delivered. Racism continues to fester at all levels of government and is shattering the myth that Malaysia will continue to progress despite any odds. Will the Prime Minister open his eyes?  ¶ 6:15 PM