Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

120 WENDY A.SMITH
The early Japanese managers in Iroha (M) felt an affinity with the more
business-like, urbane approach of Malaysian Chinese managers, and despite the
pro-Malay emphasis of the NEP, this did not change in the NEP era.
Moreover, Chinese and Japanese could drink alcohol together so there were more
contexts for socialising outside of working hours. Until the Malay NEP graduates
matured, the Chinese were perceived by the Japanese managers to have superior
ability to the Malays, in terms of work ethics and technical skills. Because of these
factors there were accusations of favouritism towards Chinese over Malays in
management-level promotions.
However, after the NEP Iroha (M)’s policy to ‘indigenise’ top-management
positions began in earnest, the Malay managers’ confidence in their security of
tenure and future promotion within the organisation strengthened. Between 1976
and 1981, the senior management level received six new members at the level of
section chief: three young graduates (two Malays, one Chinese), two Malay ‘midcareer’
recruits in their thirties, and one Malay from the company’s rank and file. By
1988, the company had recruited seven more Malay NEP graduates and two more
Chinese graduates.
New-rich career paths
I will now present case histories of three Iroha (M) managers who attained the
status of ‘new rich’ through different routes: Sanusi, one of the first managerial
recruits, a non-graduate from the old middle class who attained senior managerial
status through the seniority principle; Rahman, an NEP graduate, first-generation
middle-class by virtue of his tertiary education; and Ridzuan, son of a working-class
family who rose from the ranks to become a manager.
Sanusi–old middle class to manager
Sanusi, one of the ‘old guard’ recruited in 1963, was in the production side until
1972, after which he was moved to personnel and administrative roles. He became
personnel manager in 1976, and by the early 1990s had become personnel and
general affairs manager, and a director of the company. Sanusi was a former pupil
of a famous English-medium colonial school. His father was an English-educated
bureaucrat, giving the family a footing into the old middle class. As is the case with
such families, Sanusi’s wife stayed at home, a sign of their affluence. They lived in
a single-storey bungalow in a middle-class area of Petaling Jaya adjacent to Kuala
Lumpur. Sanusi sent one of his sons to the USA for tertiary education. After this
Sanusi helped him to set up a business, which Sanusi plans to join upon his
retirement from Iroha (M).
Unlike the new middle class, where it is common for both husband and wife to
have professional jobs, and to be concerned with maximising only the interests of
the nuclear family, Sanusi’s concern extended more widely. When new employees
were needed, the company advertised internally for friends or relatives of existing