PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim said today affirmative action was necessary for the poor and marginalised to obtain equal opportunity.

He said there cannot be absolute meritocracy when there is no fairness.

“There are some schools in Malaysia, the urban schools, that have the best facilities, competing with some remote schools in the rural heartlands.

“Hence, there needs to be additional systems.

“You can call it affirmative actions or you can call it additional support. But you cannot have pure meritocracy without providing basic fair opportunity,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the University of California, Berkeley in San Francisco yesterday.

Alan P. Bedford endowed chair and political science director of Berkeley Apec Study Center Prof Vinod Aggarwal was the moderator of the one-hour session.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, said effective programmes must continue as they help eradicate poverty.

“It will allow the marginalised and the poor to be able to rise and compete,” he said.

Anwar said such actions need not be race-based.

“You can be a Malay, Chinese or Indian, but if you’re poor, we deal with you the same as the issue of poverty is not race-based, but a need-based issue,” the prime minister said.

On the question of brain drain, Anwar, who was in the United States for the Apec Economic Leaders Meeting, said as opposed to the traditional view that students must go home when they graduate from universities overseas, they could stay abroad and work to gain some experience first.

“Let them have the initial exposure, especially if private companies, private enterprises or startups want to employ them, especially here in the San Francisco Bay area or New York,” he said.

San Francisco is home to Fortune 500 companies such as Tesla, Uber, Salesforce, Pixar, Netflix, Lucasfilm and Levi Strauss, and some of the most innovative firms in artificial intelligence development, biotech, software, clean technology, and social media.

“That exposure will also benefit the country when they come back.

“But, let me say this too, if you decide to work here, please send more funds to your parents,” the prime minister quipped, drawing laughter from the more than 250 students present.

Anwar said the government would look into attracting skilled Malaysians overseas to return home and contribute to Malaysia. – Bernama, November 15, 2023.