The NEP is officially dead

KUALA LUMPUR: Every individual counts. Merit and effort would now count. With those words, Malaysia today buried the decades-old New Economic Policy which gave preference to Bumiputeras in all spheres of life.

Affirmative action would now be based on needs and merit, and the focus shifted from ethnicity to low income households and individuals.

Mutual respect and dignity would be accorded, said the National Economic Advisory Council in its first report of the New Economic Model that would guide Malaysia's development.

"All communities can contribute to and share in the wealth of the country," it said. "Every part of the country matters. Resources, jobs, contracts and licenses (will be) based on merit and effort."

In charting Malaysia's growth towards a high-income economy, with a per capita income of US15,000 a year, the report stated that the rakyat could expect:

• More choices and higher purchasing power.
• An upward spiral of consumption and high income career choices.
• Better quality of life. Not only higher incomes, but quality healthcare and social support, for all.
• Opportunities for upward mobility.
• Readily available skills development programmes.
• Access to resources, jobs, contracts and licenses based on merit and effort.
• Reward for innovation and creativity.
• A more developed, specialised, innovative, technology-driven and knowledge-based economic structure.

All rakyat will feel included as a result of:

• Safe surroundings free from the fear of crime, the indignity of discrimination and the anxiety of need.
• Equal and easy access to information.
• Connected, sophisticated, modern cities, townships and villages.
• All communities able to contribute to and share in the wealth of the country.
• Every individual counts.
• Affirmative action shift from ethnicity to low income households and individuals on the basis of needs and merit. Mutual respect and dignity accorded.
• Every part of the nation matters.
• Regional and sub-regional development will be given more emphasis, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.
• Everyone will be consulted and their voices heard.