“The racial equation means that the vast majority who benefit are Malays. So why the siege mentality?” he asked. — Picture by Danny Lim
LONDON, March 20 — Malaysia must dump race-based affirmative action policies for a needs-based formula to stop the slide in its economic competitiveness, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said last night.
The Opposition Leader insisted that dropping the New Economic Policy (NEP), first drawn up in the 1970s, would be more effective in helping poor Bumiputeras, a constant call by his political foes in Umno as well as Malay rights groups.
“It needs to be dismantled because of the lost competitiveness,” he told a forum in London.
Anwar’s frequent criticism of the NEP has often drawn flak along with the accusation that he is selling out "his race", a charge that he denies.
“We have to regain it and enrich the country and then distribute wealth through a more transparent affirmative action policy,” the PKR de facto leader said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is set to receive a New Economic Model (NEM) report that will offer alternatives to the current affirmative-action policies but he said public feedback is required before implementation.
The NEM comes on the back of moves last year to free certain sectors of the economy of Bumiputera quotas. These moves have raised concerns about Malays being marginalised.
But Anwar, speaking to a mix of 300 students and working Malaysians, argued that for the majority — and the majority of poor being Malay — a needs-based system would in fact benefit Malays more in comparison to other races.
“They ask what will happen to Malays? In fact, Malays will be better off if they get rid of people like you,” he said. — Picture by Danny Lim
The Permatang Pauh MP added that he has often been posed hypothetical questions in which the Chinese would win all open tenders due to their current advantages.
“We will have policies in place that those who win tender awards must open up their subcontracts and give exposure to all other communities. If leaders are not corrupt and looking for commissions, then it can be done,” he explained.
The former deputy prime minister insisted that NEP policies were being supported by Umno as a means to practice “corruption with impunity.”
“They ask what will happen to Malays? In fact, Malays will be better off if they get rid of people like you,” he said, adding that it was an irresponsible statement to say that the NEP benefited all Malays at the expense of non-Malays when it in fact only benefited the “Umnoputra.”
Anwar, who was finance minister in the 1990s, defended the use of the NEP in years past, saying that he supported it before as “it was a different situation then.”
“We benefited and there was social mobility. But this from 35 years ago.
“Yes there were abuses, it was exploited by the rich and political cronies. Look at the richest Malays in the country, it is the brother of the prime minister, the son of a former prime minister and the son-in-law of another former prime minister,” he said, referring to banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, entrepreneur Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin respectively.
Earlier in the evening, Anwar had described how in the 1990s Malaysia was second in the region only to Singapore in economic competitiveness but could now no longer be compared to such leadings lights as our southern neighbour and other Asian giants like South Korea and Taiwan.
“Instead we are comparing ourselves to Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines and even then we are losing to them in terms of growth and foreign direct investment,” he claimed.
He added that the country has lost its attractiveness as an investment destination with experts explaining that Malaysia is no longer on “the radar” due to “destruction of institutions” such as the media and the judiciary.
This, they believe, has left investors with a sense of “hopelessness” about the economy.
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