MARA Digital, nicknamed by Malaysians as ‘Low Yat 2’, is officially open for business since yesterday.
The retail space for consumer electronics and telecommunication products that was developed within a short time frame of 3 months is located on the third floor of the Menara MARA Kuala Lumpur building.
The retail space houses a total of 38 Bumiputera ICT entrepreneurs that offer vast varieties of consumer electronic products in the form of both hardware and software as well as telco services and after sales services.
However, news of the completion of the ‘second Low Yat’ has brought about many complaints from the general public.
The Coverage Bureau has compiled a list of 10 reasons on why we think that MARA Digital, or better known as ‘Low Yat 2’, is a bad idea.
1. It Fuels And Supports The Very Idea Of Racism
Image sourced from FreeMalaysiaToday
Malaysia has already reached the pinnacle of racial hatred; so much in fact that the racial segmentation in our country has never been higher. Instead of trying to unite the races in Malaysia and extinguishing racial conflict, the ministry decided to build a telecommunications and electronics outlet with the policy that only bumiputeras are allowed to conduct business or rent a lot at the outlet.
Then, there’s the odd timing for the launching of the ‘2nd Low Yat’; which was launched less than 6 months after the critical Low Yat incident that nearly sparked a nationwide crisis. A mere coincidence? I for one, among many other Malaysians don’t think so.
The launch of the ‘2nd Low Yat’ and it’s ridiculous ‘bumiputera-only policy’ is nothing less of an act of provocation to the rest of the races. It is a direct statement to the other races saying “You bunch oppressed us and challenged our rights in the Low Yat incident. We’re not happy about it one bit and we’ll make our own Low Yat for our race only”.
Thirty-six premises selling telecommunications equipment owned 100% by Bumiputera companies have been shorlisted to commence their business. The very policy of the premise SCREAMS racial segmentation and racial conflict- the last thing our country needs.
The MIC Youth party intends to apply to the Rural and Regional Development to provide Indian youths the opportunity to conduct business in the premise, with strong conviction against the ministry’s policy to only provide the business opportunity in ‘Low Yat 2’ to the Malay population.
Profit and business has never been segmented by race in the first place, so why start now? The Ministry is merely adding kerosene to the already uncontrollable fire of racism.
Some may say that this is payback for Low Yat 1 being given to the Chinese population. That is nothing short of an unbiased and injudicious statement based on whims of thought and not facts. Low Yat 1 is an open mall for all races to conduct business. There never have been and never will be a policy that prevents a certain racial group from conducting business there. I vouch for this when I say that I have seen a few Malay traders in Low Yat 1 the few times I visited the tech mall.
2. ‘Low Yat 2’ Is the Prime Example Of A Poor Marketing Strategy
The new age has come about and a vast majority of things have changed. People prefer purchasing and ordering goods from the Internet instead of purchasing them in person at a store. That being said, the Ministry shouldn’t further add unneeded competition to the already struggling electronics re-sellers.
With the policy of ‘Low Yat 2’, the Ministry is quite frankly segmenting the Malaysian tech & digital market into racial groups; promoting racial conflict- the opposite of what most of us Malaysians stand for. Not to mention that the division in the market spectrum will make prospects bleak for existing business owners who may lose nearly half of their customer demography due to the racial segmentation.
‘Low Yat 2is built in Busana Mall, a mall that is depreciating day by day. The number of shoppers that visit the shopping mall a day is no more than the number of players there are in a football team.
3. Malaysians Will Still Prefer the First Low Yat
Image sourced from gowhere.com
Irregardless of the past incidents, Low Yat 1 is still the ultimate go-to spot for tech geeks and for those looking for a good deal for electronic goods.
The ‘2nd Low Yat’ is nothing more than the small electronics aisle you find in Tesco when compared with ‘Low Yat 1’, which is without doubt, a full scale IT mall that easily puts ‘Low Yat 2’ to shame. To prove our point, ‘Low Yat 2’ has 38 stores while ‘Low Yat 1’ has 320 stores.
The crowd and business owners in Low Yat 1 are multiracial and offer a bigger variety as opposed to ‘Low Yat 2’s’ racist policy and small spread of variety.
Low Yat 1 also holds the title of “Malaysia’s Largest IT Lifestyle Mall” from the Malaysian Book Of Records.
Malaysians will also avoid patronizing ‘Low Yat 2’ in support against racial inequality. We even dare say that a large majority of Malay members of the public will avoid patronizing the new mall in support of racial unity.
4. ‘Low Yat 2’ is The Birth Child of A Racist
Image sourced from TheAntDaily.com
Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob made a statement addressing the racially biased policy of ‘Low Yat 2’, saying that the policy is as such and targets for 100 per cent of the traders to be Malays because there has never been any distributors from the Malay spectrum and wants to give them some leeway.
No Malay distributors? The entire Low Yat operation is multi racial and it is an unintelligible accusation to imply that there are no Malay distributors.
To further prove our point that he is nothing more than a racist with a high title; on the 2nd of February, he called for Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses, saying this would leave them no choice but to reduce their prices.
This prejudicial racial extremist failed to grasp the very concept of human nature. It is not the racial profile of a business owner that determines whether or not the goods are fairly priced. It is purely determined by the flux in the market or the industry and the very nature and attitude of the business dealer himself.
5. It Insults The Founding Father of Low Yat
Image sourced from www.hardwarezone.com.my
Low Yat was named after the late grandfather of the founding Low Yat Group. To denounce and degrade the image and name of Low Yat; labeling it as a racially biased mall that only allows Chinese business owners to conduct business there; as accused by members of the ministry, is an insult to the man himself.
The Low Yat group have spoken up against these accusations, asking critics to respect Low Yat, the name of the mall that derived from their late grandfather, following the criticism and abashment from the recent Low Yat crisis.Some saw Low Yat 1 as a form of racial segregation, while others saw it as a ‘free enterprise’. Nonetheless, Malaysians ought to respect the name itself as it was derived from a deceased man. How would you feel if your grandfather built an empire, only to have it labeled as a racism fueled entity after his passing, and have a group of people rally to start up a second empire after your grandfather’s, to insult his very memory and incorrectly label him as a racially biased man and further insult him by creating an entity that opposed every righteous policy your grandfather has railed in his empire?
Leave the name Low Yat alone and come up with a new name. Is the ministry too unoriginal to nickname the new entity as ‘Low Yat 2’?
6. The Very Idea Of ‘Low Yat 2’ Opposes The Vision of Wawasan 2020 and the 1Malaysia Spirit
Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told media that he set up the MARA Digital Mall ‘Low Yat 2’ to fulfill the agency’s mission as envisioned by its creator, Malaysia’s second Prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, adding that he was only continuing his legacy.
First and foremost, Tun Abdul Razak was from an era in the past. We are now inching our way nearer to the year 2020 where times have changed, DRASTICALLY. He speaks of ‘the mission’ but even Tunku Abdul Razak’s son, Najib Razak, our current Prime Minister is promoting the spirit of 1Malaysia instead of ‘continuing the legacy’ of his father.
Secondly, those who even apply the terms; ‘Bumiputera’ and ‘Non-Bumiputera’ are considered extremists. That itself goes to show how much us Malaysians value racial unity.
7. It Degrades The Malay Community
Image sourced from Astro Awani
Like it or not, the stereotype in Malaysia describes Malays to have it best in life; always being offered opportunities the other races are not and are spoon-fed by the government. The Coverage Bureau, among many other Malaysians, are sure that this stereotype is untrue.
Why adhere and align to the stereotype by implementing the racially biased policy of Low Yat 2 in the first place? Is the government trying to paint a bad and needy image of the Malay population? Minister Sabri Yaakob told the public that it was time for the Malay community to step up and prove themselves.
Some of the brightest scholars and people that Malaysia has ever seen are Malays. That being said, it is a very shallow minded statement to say that ‘it is time for the Malay community to step up and prove themselves’ when Malays have nothing to prove! They are a force to be a reckoned with in Malaysia and are respected. His statement only proves that he saw little of the Malay community in the first place.
A large majority of Malays are pioneering the way for the rest of Malaysia. Even other races are following their footsteps and aspire to be as successful as them.
8. Are Sabahans and Sarawakians not Bumiputera?
Image sourced from blog.borneotropicaladventures.com
One controversy that surrounds the ‘2nd Low Yat’ is the statement of Minister Sabri Yaakob that described the plan for ‘Malay sellers only’, as opposed to ‘for ‘Bumiputera seller only’.
Since MARA exalts the well-being of Bumiputeras, why are they not including Sarawak and Sabah natives and the Orang Asli, as opposed to just Malays?
Why isn’t he nor MARA even paying a single bit of attention or offering help to the natives of Sabah and Sarawak who lack educational facilities, health facilities, water supplements and a proper economy for natives to conduct business?
9. It is Bad for the Digital & Tech Industry
Image sourced from www.schema.it
The already diversely segmented market that has lost it’s reach through the segmentation, is now further made less bountiful with the further racial segmentation that was non-existent before.
The Tech industry is currently as it’s peak and competition within the market has never been higher. Why add to the local competition and create another outlet dedicated to solely technology; which will kill the market for small resellers and traders?
The racial segmentation and policy of the ‘2nd Low Yat’ will also racially lessen job opportunities for other races.
The unemployment rate in Malaysia is already at an all time high with over 400,000 Malaysian youths reporting to be jobless.
Malaysia’s industry will no longer be able to withstand the fluctuations of the market state and will soon collapse if this continues. A minister, among other people should know this very well, shouldn’t they? If they don’t, then it’s very clear they’re sitting behind the wrong desk and should maybe consider working at customer support for UniFi.
10. It’s A Double Edged Sword
Though the intentions of the ‘Low Yat 2’ is to help the Malay community; will it actually help or set them back? Do the pros outweigh the cons?
There are already thousand upon thousands of existing members of the Malay community that conduct business online through websites like Mudah.my, Lelong.my and more. By creating another mall specifically for Malay tech business owners, it will negatively impact the existing Malay crowd that is conducting business online by birthing another competition for their already competitive marketplace.
That being said, the ministry’s statement that ‘Low Yat 2’ was created, not to compete with other races is partially true. They have, in a nutshell, only created a competition for online business owners; most of which are comprised of members from the Malay community.
That being said, the new mall’s 6 month free rental offer will further harm online Malay digital traders, as the advantage of free rent for half a year gives the business owners at ‘Low Yat 2’ more room to lower their prices for 6 months, thus killing the market entirely for existing Malay online business owners.
What do you think of ‘Low Yat 2’? Let us know!
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