Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday called for ending the long-standing privileges of the majority Malays -- a bold attack on a racially sensitive affirmative action policy that few Malaysians had dared to question before.
Anwar, trying to re-emerge politically after his virtual destruction in a power struggle with former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, said the program is obsolete and corrupt as only a few well-connected Malays have benefited from it at the expense of other Malays, Chinese and Indians.
"The policy should be scrapped. Meritocracy should be the flavor," Anwar told a news conference at his house.
PHOTO: AFP
The policy, considered by most Malays as their birthright, was instituted in 1970 in a bid to improve their economic lot. No notable politician of any race has ever suggested scrapping it for fear of alienating Malays, and Anwar was taking a huge political gamble with his call.
"What we need to do is to improve the standard of living of all the races," said Anwar, who is on a high after winning an apology and damages this week from the former national police chief in a case linked to his ouster as Mahathir's deputy in 1998.
Although Malays form 60 percent of the country's 26 million population, they control only 19 percent of the corporate equity and most of the country's wealth is in the hands of the Chinese. Indians are about 7 percent and are at the bottom rung of the economic ladder.
The Malays, known as "Bumiputras," or the sons of the soil, were given a host of privileges in the affirmative action program to close the wealth gap. They get preference in government jobs, education, housing, bank loans, business contracts and government licenses.
But the policy is widely acknowledged to be only a moderate success, benefiting largely a few Malay elite and taking away from others the incentive to excel.
At an annual congress of the ruling party of Malays last month, delegates called for strengthening the affirmative-action policy. Anwar said party leaders should understand that Malays are ready to stand on their feet.
"It is time we build a new consensus -- a Malaysian consensus to have a determined effort to combat poverty among rural Malays, estate Indians who are still living in deplorable conditions and Chinese squatters in urban areas," Anwar said.
Anwar was once considered a natural successor to Mahathir until the deputy prime minister started complaining about corruption in the government. He was sacked in September 1998 and jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy.
Anwar was beaten up by the national police chief Abdul Rahim Noor in custody. Abdul Rahim, who was convicted and sentenced to 60 days in jail, publicly apologized to Anwar on Wednesday in an out of court settlement. The sodomy charge was also overturned by a court last year, and Anwar was freed last year.
However, Anwar remains barred from active politics because of the corruption conviction until 2008.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS