The Sunday Times, February 18, 2007
Reme Ahmad, MALAYSIA BUREAU CHIEF KUALA LUMPUR
Abdullah says controversial bumiputera affirmative action scheme could end early if targets are met
KUALA LUMPUR - PRIME Minister Abdullah Badawi has said a controversial policy to help bumiputeras in the country will not be around 'forever'.
It could be dropped before 2020 once its targets are met, he said.
While the government has been working to raise the share of the bumiputeras - Malays and other indigenous races - in the economic pie to 30 per cent, he said the targets set out in the affirmative action programme are not easy to achieve.
'We are targeting that before the year 2020, we should be able to achieve this,' Datuk Seri Abdullah said in an interview aired by the Al-Jazeera news network.
Interviewer Teymoor Nabili had asked the Malaysian Premier whether he meant that the New Economic Policy (NEP) would be eliminated entirely by then.
'Well, once we achieve it, there is no reason why we should have that policy any more,' he replied.
The interview, part of the 101 East programme, was aired early yesterday morning.
Datuk Seri Abdullah said the government is not opposed to discarding the NEP earlier. 'The faster we get to that objective, the faster we will be able to throw it out.'
The 2020 timeframe is a known ballpark target, but its mention after a long lull could renew the debate over why bumiputeras would need special treatment for 13 more years.
The NEP was launched after the deadly 1969 race riots. Its aim was to raise the economic status of bumiputeras and increase their stake in the economy to 30 per cent.
While lauded in the early years as a form of bold social engineering, the policy has since been criticised for having been abused and for being extended far beyond an earlier target date of 1990.
Although the policy's label has been changed several times, it is still known widely as the NEP.
Critics say it has benefited only a small group of politically connected Malays.
In fact, earlier last week, Datuk Seri Abdullah said 85 per cent of government projects parcelled out to Malay contractors had been sold for quick profits to non-bumiputeras.
Parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said it would be hard to convince many people that the NEP would end by 2020.
'It was supposed to end by 1990 but was extended,' he told The Sunday Times. 'The policy seems to depend on the political needs of the moment.'
The government has said that bumiputeras today control 19 per cent of the economy - well short of the 30 per cent target. But that 19 per cent figure has been hotly contested.
Malaysians went through months of heated debate last year on whether the 30 per cent goal had been achieved.
In the interview, Datuk Seri Abdullah also said he would not engage in a verbal war with his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
'I have decided not to respond to all these accusations that have been made against me because I am concentrating on my job,' he said.
'I have a lot of work to do.'
His focus on his job has improved the country's economic performance, he noted, and Malaysians have also begun to notice that.
reme@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Well, once we achieve it, there is no reason why we should have that policy any more.'
DATUK SERI ABDULLAH
Reme Ahmad, MALAYSIA BUREAU CHIEF KUALA LUMPUR
Abdullah says controversial bumiputera affirmative action scheme could end early if targets are met
KUALA LUMPUR - PRIME Minister Abdullah Badawi has said a controversial policy to help bumiputeras in the country will not be around 'forever'.It could be dropped before 2020 once its targets are met, he said.
While the government has been working to raise the share of the bumiputeras - Malays and other indigenous races - in the economic pie to 30 per cent, he said the targets set out in the affirmative action programme are not easy to achieve.
'We are targeting that before the year 2020, we should be able to achieve this,' Datuk Seri Abdullah said in an interview aired by the Al-Jazeera news network.
Interviewer Teymoor Nabili had asked the Malaysian Premier whether he meant that the New Economic Policy (NEP) would be eliminated entirely by then.
'Well, once we achieve it, there is no reason why we should have that policy any more,' he replied.
The interview, part of the 101 East programme, was aired early yesterday morning.
Datuk Seri Abdullah said the government is not opposed to discarding the NEP earlier. 'The faster we get to that objective, the faster we will be able to throw it out.'
The 2020 timeframe is a known ballpark target, but its mention after a long lull could renew the debate over why bumiputeras would need special treatment for 13 more years.
The NEP was launched after the deadly 1969 race riots. Its aim was to raise the economic status of bumiputeras and increase their stake in the economy to 30 per cent.
While lauded in the early years as a form of bold social engineering, the policy has since been criticised for having been abused and for being extended far beyond an earlier target date of 1990.
Although the policy's label has been changed several times, it is still known widely as the NEP.
Critics say it has benefited only a small group of politically connected Malays.
In fact, earlier last week, Datuk Seri Abdullah said 85 per cent of government projects parcelled out to Malay contractors had been sold for quick profits to non-bumiputeras.
Parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said it would be hard to convince many people that the NEP would end by 2020.
'It was supposed to end by 1990 but was extended,' he told The Sunday Times. 'The policy seems to depend on the political needs of the moment.'
The government has said that bumiputeras today control 19 per cent of the economy - well short of the 30 per cent target. But that 19 per cent figure has been hotly contested.
Malaysians went through months of heated debate last year on whether the 30 per cent goal had been achieved.
In the interview, Datuk Seri Abdullah also said he would not engage in a verbal war with his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
'I have decided not to respond to all these accusations that have been made against me because I am concentrating on my job,' he said.
'I have a lot of work to do.'
His focus on his job has improved the country's economic performance, he noted, and Malaysians have also begun to notice that.
reme@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Well, once we achieve it, there is no reason why we should have that policy any more.'
DATUK SERI ABDULLAH
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