THE Bumiputera agenda is a national issue, not political, requiring the government’s attention to rectify their economic and social disadvantages, said academics and economists.

Bumiputeras are laggards in terms of wealth, asset accumulation and business, they said.

The comments come at the heels of remarks from Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and new Port Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim.

Azmin said although Pakatan Harapan pursues an economic policy based on need rather than race, it does not mean that the Bumiputeras are marginalised.

“We have to accept the fact that from the statistics and data, they are still lagging behind and the largest group in the B40 group are the Malays and Bumiputeras,” he said at a recent dialogue.

It was irresponsible of several parties to accuse PH of marginalising the Malays, Azmin said.

“Within 100 days, we launched the Kongress Bumiputera and the Masa Depan Negara (KBN 2018) which aim to be a paradigm shift for the Malays and to increase confidence facing the competition.”

Malay champions

Former Umno president Najib Razak said the Malays should not place any hope on the PH government to fight for their fate.

This is because, the former prime minister said, the strength of the Malay party in the coalition of PH came from the support of non-Malays.

Peninsular Malaysia Malay Students Coalition (GPMS) president Zambri Mohd Isa also accused DAP of dictating PH, saying that the coalition was not serious fighting for the rights and privileges of the Malays.

Azmin’s view is shared by former Economic Action Council of Malaysia (MTEM) CEO Mohd Nizam Mashar, who said the Bumiputera agenda must remain a national agenda because they are the majority who are sidelined in socio-economic and asset ownership.

“In terms of wealth, the accumulation of assets, income and our businesses (Malays and Bumiputeras) are lagging behind (compared with other races). The contribution of Malay traders to gross domestic product (GDP) is still below 9%.

“The gap needs to be reduced, otherwise, it will create various conflicts between races because there is no economic control,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

KBN 2018 took place just a few days after PKR president-elect Anwar advised Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that PH must pay attention to issues concerning the Malays and Bumiputeras.

Anwar even said he did not deserve to be prime minister if he ignored the Malay and Islamic agenda.

There is another reason the Bumiputera agenda is still relevant, Nizam said.

“The Malays are still caught in the old economy, they are not aligned with the digital and technology era.”

He gave an example of how the resolutions presented at the recent congress still offered ideas that seem recycled from the previous congress.

Values and ethics

The issue of the Malays raised by Dr Mahathir in recent years is also not a political issue but a question of values that is also relevant to all races, said Nizam.

In a number of speeches since August, Dr Mahathir repeatedly touched on the attitude, values and ethics of the Malays who, in his analysis, hampered their own progress.

Institute of Thought at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) director Ahmad Zaharudin Sani said Dr Mahathir was only continuing his idea of transforming the people and country, which he began in the past 22 years when he became prime minister.

“Dr Mahathir wants the Malays to fly higher and he wants them to lose the fear of trying and losing or wait and see (attitude),” he said.

Outspoken academic Mohd Tajuddin Rasdi said the Malays are difficult to change despite repeatedly being reprimanded because of their misunderstanding of religion and not being religious. – October 14, 2018.