Excerpts from TheStar (July 17, 2007)…
UMNO will continue to struggle and discuss the need to keep the New Economic Policy (NEP) to ensure the interests of the Malays are protected, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo said.
The Umno supreme council member said the party could only remain relevant in the future if this was among its priorities.
He said, without such a thrust, the Malays could switch their support to religion-based parties such as PAS or other opposition parties including Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
It is no hiding secret that NEP has become a weapon for UMNO’s political agenda… I am kinda surprise though, to see an UMNO leader stating the fact so blatantly.
I actually think that the concept of NEP is not all that bad… the problems however, lies within the implementation of the policy. It is pretty obvious that only a small number of Bumiputras are reaping the rewards of NEP while most of the poor are being neglected or manipulated.
Besides, it is worse enough to have a racial bias government policy, it is even worse when it is being used for the benefits of a specific political party… even the Malays themselves are being discriminated (UMNO vs not UMNO members).
Dear YeinJee, I note that you’ve got a pretty political blog here. I just wanted to say that I think we should not take an “apologist approach” towards NEP. The facts are clear: it’s discriminatory, it has been abused, it has been prolonged beyond a reasonable period of time… It’s time for NEP to go. We should not fall into the mind-trap of “sensitive issues”, and pussyfoot around fundamental issues like racial discrimination. It’s unacceptable and abhorrent, no matter what the justification. In any case, these so-called “justifications” are myths to control our minds. Peace, Jonson
‘Pretty’ political blog… that is a strange compliment, I’ll take that though, thanks.
I am not sure what you mean ‘apologist’ approach. I agree that it’s discriminating, has been abused a lot and probably prolonged beyond a reasonable time as you mentioned.
I certainly hope that they would be a new economy plan replacing the current NEP, so that all the poor can be taken care of instead of just the Malays; but it is obvious that it won’t be happening in near future.
I still stand on my ground that NEP is not all bad though; I do think that bridging the economic gap between races is important for the stability of this country…
Besides, considering that the Malay population is ever growing and that UMNO is getting richer and stronger in recent years… NEP is going to stay here for a long while regardless of our likings. It’s a fact of life in Malaysia.
YeinJee,
All Malaysian plans and policies are good, no doubt. But Malaysian politicians are good at keeping 2 sets of plans and policies. The first set is “what they say”. The second set is “what they do”. So, whatever new plans and new policies are the same to me. They only change the cover and the name. Nothing else
Butterfly… true that.