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The New Economic Policy (NEP) ( ms, Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB)) was a social re-engineering and affirmative action program formulated by the
National Operations Council The National Operations Council (NOC) or Majlis Gerakan Negara (MAGERAN) was an emergency administrative body which attempted to restore law and order in Malaysia after the 13 May incident in 1969, in the wake of the racial rioting which bro ...
(NOC) in the aftermath of 13 May Incident in Malaysia. This policy was adopted in 1971 for a period of 20 years and it was succeeded by the
National Development Policy The National Development Policy was a Malaysian economic policy introduced by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The objective was achieving economic growth, while ensuring that accrued benefits reached all sections of society. The National Developm ...
(NDP) in 1991. This article looks into the historical context that gave rise to the formulation of this policy, its objectives and implementation methods as well as its impact on the Malaysian economy in general.


Policy overview

The New Economic Policy (NEP) which began with the Second Malaysia Plan (1971–1975) and lasted until the Fifth Malaysia Plan (1986–1990), had three main objectives, namely:Jeong Chun Hai @Ibrahim. (2007). ''Fundamental of Development Administration''. Selangor: Scholar Press. * To achieve
national unity Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
, harmony and integrity * Through socio-economic restructuring (of the society) * To minimize the level of poverty in the country (
poverty eradication Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics cl ...
) The NEP was conceived as a two-pronged strategy for eradicating poverty for all Malaysians as well as reducing and subsequently eliminating identification of race by economic function and geographical location. The Policy sought to achieve its objectives through rapid expansion of the economy over time and set its target of substantially reducing the incidence of absolute poverty by 1990. To achieve this, the Policy called for aggressive improvement of economic status and quality of life for all Malaysians through: * Access to land * Physical capital * Training * Public facilities Concurrently, the Policy also called for fairer distribution of opportunities to participate in the widening range of economic activities. The Policy opined that the core problem that stood in the way of national unity was compartmentalisation of racial groups by economic function; particularly the association of Malay and other indigenous races with subsistence agriculture. To dissociate Malay and other indigenous races with traditional agriculture, the Policy called on the Malaysian Government to provide assistance to all Malaysians in: * Finding employment * Securing participation in economic activities * Acquiring ownership in various economic sectors As Malay and other indigenous races progressed in the modern economic sector, other Malaysians were encouraged to introduce modern agriculture to eliminate the identification of Malay and other indigenous races with subsistence agriculture. The overarching principle of the Policy was the creation of "a socio-economic environment in which individual Malaysians find self-fulfilment within a system which provides for proportional participation, management and control in the economic life of the nation".


Policy Development Context


Colonial Period

During British colonial rule in Malaya, Malays had always been in close contact with British officials by virtue of being the subjects of the Sultan's Court. Administratively, Malays displayed a highly structured system, which enabled the British to embed themselves into the existing structure with ease. To communicate effectively with the Malay Rulers, Malays were employed by the British to work in Resident's Offices as clerical staff. However, Malays were mostly educated in Islamic madrasah, with little exposure to Western education. To ensure a competent administrative workforce, the British established Malay schools to teach to basic clerical knowledge. The discovery of tin in Malaya in 1820s led to an influx of Chinese miners. This discovery led to disputes among the Malay Rulers, Chinese miners, affluent chieftains and villagers, resulting in formal British colonial rule in 1874. By 1885, Malaya became the largest tin producer in the world, accounting for 55% of global tin output. The prosperity brought about by tin mining was primarily shared between the British and the Chinese. As mining towns grew larger and became more economically important, urban infrastructure improved and these mining towns became the seat of administrative power for the British and traditional Malay capitals became insignificant. In 1839, the vulcanisation technique was discovered by Charles Goodyear, which marked the beginning of the extensive use of rubber in industry. In Malaya, Henry Nicholas Ridley, Director of Singapore and Penang Botanical Gardens, introduced rubber plantations in the early 1890s when he managed to convince the Kinderly Brothers of Inch Kenneth Estate in Selangor and a Chinese tapioca planter, Tan Chay Yan in Malacca to adopt rubber plantations as a commercial enterprise. By 1911, labour imported from India involved in the rubber plantation sector totaled 126,665 people and Malaya became the world's largest producer of natural rubber. Educated Indians were employed in the estates' hospitals and clinics while the majority worked as rubber tappers.


Malaya's economy pre- and post-Independence

Before Independence in 1957, Malaya's economy was recovering from the destruction brought about by World War II, entailing huge reconstruction costs to the British colonisers. As the British sought to consolidate Malaya's economic policy between the Malay States, the Malayan Union was proposed to unify Federated and Unfederated Malay States into a single entity. This proposal was met with objection from the Malay community as they were angered by the way in which the Malay Rulers' assent was sought. Furthermore, there were concerns about citizenship and economic policies if the proposed union were to materialise. After a short period of union, the British dissolved the Malayan Union and replaced it with the Federation of Malaya, with Tunku Abdul Rahman as its first Chief Minister. By that time, rubber and tin were the main source of income for the Federation and it was one of the more prosperous economies in the region. Its per capita income was ranked third in Asia, after Japan and Singapore. British corporations dominated the lucrative rubber industry and large tracts of land were dominated by these British corporations such as Dunlop Plantation, Guthrie Plantation and Harrisons & Crossfield. However, the British agricultural policy during that period discouraged participation of indigenous communities in the export crop economy, despite interest in
smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
rubber plantations. This development left the indigenous population in subsistence agriculture producing largely for domestic production and consumption, while the British and other communities expanded their interest in commercial agricultural production and dominated the export crop economy. After independence, the Federation of Malaya government pursued a diversification policy to promote other economic activities. The government also acknowledged that dependency on rubber and tin as the main contributors to the national income could not be immediately reduced. The poverty rate up to 1970 was high at 49%, with the indigenous communities holding less than 3% of the national economy.


Racial Riots of 1969

The racial riots of 1969 occurred against the backdrop of high poverty rates among the indigenous population and was compounded by communal political tension. Perceptions among the communities persisted and helped fuel mistrust, especially between the Malay and Chinese communities. At the more affluent neighbourhood of Petaling Jaya, it was evident that people with similar socioeconomic status were the least affected by the riots. The precursor to the racial riots of 1969 occurred in Singapore in 1964, which led to the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia. The main opposition party, People's Action Party (PAP), called for equality for all Malaysians and challenged the domination of the ruling Alliance coalition in the Federal Government election of 1964. This was known as the '
Malaysian Malaysia The phrase "Malaysian Malaysia" was originally used in the mid-1960s as the rallying motto of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, a coalition of political parties led by Lee Kuan Yew of the People's Action Party (PAP) that served as an Opposit ...
' campaign. As communal tension threatened to turn violent, the Federal Government decided to expel Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia.


Suspension of Parliament and formulation of the New Economic Policy

In the wake of the riots, the government declared a state of national emergency and Parliament was suspended. A caretaker government, the
National Operations Council The National Operations Council (NOC) or Majlis Gerakan Negara (MAGERAN) was an emergency administrative body which attempted to restore law and order in Malaysia after the 13 May incident in 1969, in the wake of the racial rioting which bro ...
(NOC), was formed and chaired by Tun Abdul Razak. After restoring order and setting the constitutional framework, the New Economic Policy was announced in the Second Malaysia Plan. The socio-political justification for NEP was:


Policy benchmarks

The NEP had the stated goal of poverty eradication and economic restructuring so as to eliminate the identification of ethnicity with economic function. The initial target was to move the ratio of economic ownership in Malaysia from a 2.4:33:63 ratio of Bumiputra, Other Malaysian, Foreigner ownership to a 30:40:30 ratio. This was to be done by redistributing the wealth to increase the ownership of enterprise by
Bumiputra ''Bumiputera'' or ''Bumiputra'' ( Jawi: ) is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia (see official definition below). The term is sometimes controver ...
s from the then 2.4% to 30% of the share of national wealth. The 30% target for Bumiputra equity was proposed by
Ismail Abdul Rahman Tun Dr. Ismail bin Abdul Rahman ( ms, إسماعيل بن عبدالرحمن, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 4 November 1915 – 2 August 1973) was a Malaysian politician who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from ...
after the government was unable to come to a consensus on an appropriate policy goal. Alongside this redistribution of wealth was the goal of increased economic growth. This economic growth would allow the non-Bumiputra share of the economy to decrease, while permitting the growth of non-Bumiputra business interests in absolute terms. In some quarters, this was referred to as "expanding pie theory": the Bumiputra share of the pie would increase, without reducing the size of the non-Bumiputra slices of the pie. This theory was first enunciated in the
Second Malaysia Plan The Second Malaysia Plan (Malay language, Malay: ''Rancangan Malaysia Kedua'') was an Development economics, economic development economic policy, plan introduced by the Politics of Malaysia, government of Malaysia with the goal of implementing ...
. In 1975 the government created incentives to expand large-scale manufacturing industries and energy-intensive industries, targeting these industries and building policies around them. The Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia (HICOM), for example, was formed to assist in the manufacture of pig-iron, aluminium die casting, pulp and paper, steel, cement, motorcycle and heavy engineering. At the same time, export incentives were initiated.


Implementation

The abstract policies and goals of the NEP were implemented by the
Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
,
Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...
, Fourth and Fifth Malaysia Plans. Some specific requirements were introduced to achieve the 30% Bumiputra equity target set by the NEP. Amongst these was a requirement that all
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
s (IPOs) set aside a 30% share for Bumiputra investors. These investors could be selected by the company being listed on the
stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...
, or the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which would normally recommend such state-owned trust agencies as Permodalan Nasional or the Armed Forces pension fund. These shares were initially heavily discounted, as IPO prices were often significantly lower than prices after the listing had taken place. However, this advantage has disappeared in recent years. Nevertheless, this regulation has been criticised, especially as the 30% target continues to apply after the IPO has occurred; if the Bumiputra investors divest their shares, the company must issue new shares to maintain the proportion of Bumiputra shares above 30%.


Results

Wealth in the hands of the bumiputras went from 4% in 1970 to about 20% in 1997. The overall wealth of the country as a whole also grew; per capita
GNP The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...
went from RM1,142 in 1970 to RM12,102 in 1997. During the same period, absolute poverty in the population as a whole dropped from 50% to 6.8%.Funston, John (2001). "Malaysia: Developmental State Challenged". In ''Government and Politics in Southeast Asia'', p. 193. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. . It is unclear what role the NEP played in these changes. The effects of the NEP on wealth distribution are disputed. The Gini index declined from 51.3 in 1970 to 44.6 in 1997, and 1987 figures indicated the mean income of the Malays had improved relative to both the Chinese and Indian communities. However, some have used 1997 statistics with 70.2 percent of households in the bottom 40 percent income group as Bumiputra, and 62.7 percent of households in the top 20 percent income bracket as non-Bumiputra, to argue that inequities remain. The Gini index also began to increase in the 1990s, going from 44.6 to 46.4 between 1990 and 1995; meanwhile, 1997 figures indicated that Chinese incomes were increasing at a rate double that of Malays'. Intra-ethnic income differences also increased markedly, especially among Malays. Bumiputra participation in the professions and private sector increased as well, although Bumiputras remain somewhat under-represented. Between 1970 and 1990, the Bumiputra share of accountants doubled from 7 to 14 per cent, engineers from 7 to 35 per cent, doctors from 4 per cent to 28 per cent, and architects from 4 to 24 per cent. The Bumiputra portion of the share market – a figure frequently cited as "a measurement of overall community wealth", despite claims that it was misleading – increased from 2 to 20 per cent over the same period according to one academic's measurements. The Chinese share also increased from 37 to 46 per cent, at the expense of foreign participation. Official
Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE; ms, Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur) dates back to 1930 when the Singapore Stockbrokers' Association was set up as a formal organisation dealing in securities in Malaya. In 1937, it was re-registered as the Malayan ...
figures from 1998 were even more optimistic, indicating Bumiputra share ownership stood at 28.6% in 1990 and 36.7% in 1996. The Chinese community in Malaysia accepted the NEP as a necessary evil to avoid Indonesian-style aggression, which the ruling party consistently instigate and deemed appropriate as their threat based policy. Furthermore, the Chinese community generally moved away from the public sector and set up businesses in the private sector, where the impact of the NEP was less pronounced. In spite of the policies implemented under the NEP, the share of the national wealth owned by the non-Bumiputra races increased beyond the 40% mark. This figure, however, does not reflect that certain segments of the non-bumiputra population live in dire poverty. The Malaysian Indian and
Orang Asli Orang Asli (''lit''. "first people", "native people", "original people", "aborigines people" or "aboriginal people" in Malay) are a heterogeneous indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of ...
in particular form the lowest strata of the population in terms of economic ownership. The
Orang Asli Orang Asli (''lit''. "first people", "native people", "original people", "aborigines people" or "aboriginal people" in Malay) are a heterogeneous indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of ...
of Peninsular Malaysia are not considered Bumiputra under the Federal Constitution despite their indigenous status (see
Bumiputra ''Bumiputera'' or ''Bumiputra'' ( Jawi: ) is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia (see official definition below). The term is sometimes controver ...
for further information).


Reimplementation

Officially the term of the NEP ended in 1990. However, much of it remained in effect through other governmental policies; the ''
New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...
'' reported that this was because as of 2007, "the government believes the aim of having 30 per cent Bumiputera equity has yet to be achieved". In 2006, it was reported that the NEP would be reinstated under the
Ninth Malaysia Plan The Ninth Malaysian Plan ( ms, Rancangan Malaysia ke-9), abbreviated as '9MP', is a comprehensive blueprint prepared by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department and the Finance Ministry of Malaysia with approval by the ...
, the ninth in a series of five-year economic plans. Originally, the NEP was replaced by the
National Development Policy The National Development Policy was a Malaysian economic policy introduced by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The objective was achieving economic growth, while ensuring that accrued benefits reached all sections of society. The National Developm ...
(NDP), which ran from 1990 to 2000. The NDP was supposed to have then been replaced by the National Vision Policy (NVP), which would reportedly have lessened the aggressive affirmative action of the NEP and NDP. However, UMNO later called for the NEP to be reinstated.


Criticism

In recent years, the NEP has come under attack as being an inefficient system that promotes a laid-back attitude among the Bumiputras; it is racial-based and not deprivation based. Several policies of the NEP which give economic advantage to the rich Bumiputras, such as Bumiputra quotas in ownership of public company stock, and housing being sold exclusively to Bumiputras, are viewed as discriminatory. Many of the NEP policies strive for equality of results rather than equality of opportunity, with NEP proponents justifying the concentration on results rather than opportunity as by pointing out that measuring equality of opportunity is difficult or impossible. When the NEP was implemented, for example, it was announced that one of its goals was to have 30% of all equity in Bumiputra hands. NEP critics have argued that setting a target of 30% of Bumiputras trained and certified to run companies would represent a better equality in terms of opportunity. Still others suggest this target may not work as training and certification does not necessarily guarantee equality of opportunity. Tun Abdul Razak's predecessor as Prime Minister,
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
, also opposed the 30% target, writing in the 1980s that " attempt was made to fill the target without thought for the ability and the capability of attaining it. ... Some became rich overnight while others became despicable Ali Babas and the country suffered economic setbacks". The NEP is also criticised for not dealing directly with issues of wealth distribution and economic inequality; that it no longer helps the poor but is instead an institutionalised system of handouts for the largest ethnic community in Malaysia as the NEP does not discriminate based on economic class. Bumiputras of high and low economic standing are entitled to the same benefits. The statistical problems of categorising wealthy and disadvantaged Bumiputras in one group also meant that the NEP's goal of having 30% of the national wealth held by Bumiputras was not indicative of a median 60% of Bumiputras holding 28% of the national wealth, but could theoretically translate into one Bumiputra holding 29% of the national wealth, with the remaining Bumiputras sharing 1%. Some have alleged that because of this imbalance, some Malays remain economically marginalised. Criticisms also arose from the fact that there was no planned assistance for Malaysian Chinese and Indian communities to achieve their 40% goal during the actual implementation of the NEP. The manufacturing sector is exempted from the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) Guidelines, the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity and restrictions in market entry have been removed for all sub-sector
(pdf)


Education

The education policy of the NEP is one of the plan's more controversial points. Bumiputras were accorded quotas for admission to public universities until 2002. These quotas were fixed, however, and in later years meant that the Bumiputra were allotted a significantly lower percentage of places originally intended, as the population figures used to calculate the quotas were based on 1970s numbers. Despite this, the quotas were still considered by many non-Bumiputra as unfairly rewarding the Bumiputra. The government removed these quotas in 2003. The removal of the quotas has done little to remedy the perceptions of Bumiputra bias in the public tertiary education system. Most Bumiputras opt to enter a one-year
matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
programme, which is considered by some to be less intensive than the two-year ''Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia'' (STPM) or Malaysian High Certificate of Education, which is equivalent to the British
A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
. Although the 'grade' standards required for admission are the same for both programmes, there is no moderation to ensure the difficulty of achieving a grade standard is the same between both programmes. The Malaysian High Certificate of Education (STPM) is open to all races, but the Matriculation programme has a 10% quota for non-Bumiputras (meaning that 90% of students admitted must be Bumiputra). In practice significantly more Bumiputra enter the matriculation program, even after normalising for ethnic demographics. These differences predate the removal of hard quotas. The difference in academic routes in fact begins in secondary school. Many Bumiputra enter public boarding secondary schools (''sekolah asrama'') whereas most non-Bumiputra remain in normal public secondary schools. The exams taken are the same until form 5 but then most Bumiputra go on to matriculation, whereas non-Bumiputra do STPM. However, even Bumiputra who remain in 'normal' secondary schools usually do matriculation instead of STPM. The lack of public transparency in grading of the papers contributed to this criticism. The removal of quotas was largely reported to have resulted in an increase in the percentage of Bumiputra entering public universities. The perceived bias towards Bumiputras has meant that non-Bumiputra who can afford to do so choose to enter private colleges or to go overseas to further their education. There is a significant proportion of non-Bumiputra who do not enter into contention for admission to public universities. It is also alleged that during the marking of examination scripts in the Government exams, that Malay/Bumiputra students are given additional points even before the students sit for the exams. As a result, despite the removal of the Quota system, this alleged unfair advantage gives more places to undeserving students of Malay origin. Critics argue that this policy of the NEP has also contributed to a brain drain. Others suggest that the NEP has contributed to
racial polarisation Racial polarization is the process whereby a population of individuals with different ancestry is divided into separate and distinct racial groups. Bermuda In Bermuda, around 55% of the population is identified as black, followed by 34% white (fu ...
and a feeling of marginalisation among the non-Malays. However, as of 2007, Chinese Malaysians dominate the professions of accountants, architects and engineers while Indian Malaysians dominate the professions of veterinarians, doctors, lawyers and dentists well exceeding their respective population ratios compared to Bumiputra


Changing mindsets

Some Bumiputras have spoken of reducing or eliminating the NEP; for example, Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...
, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in his maiden speech as
United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
(UMNO) president to the UMNO general assembly in 2004 stated "Let's not use the crutches for support all the time, the knee will become weak". Badawi went on to state that continued usage of crutches would eventually result in needing a
wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
instead. As of October 2004, Badawi has not addressed any significant concerns about the NEP. Not all Bumiputra political leaders shared Badawi's views. For example,
Badruddin Amiruldin Badruddin bin Amiruldin (born 20 May 1951) is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Permanent Chairman of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest Malay political party in the country and the leader of the Barisan Na ...
, who was elected as UMNO's Deputy Permanent chairman, waved a book about the 13 May incident at the assembly during his speech while declaring, "No other race has the right to question our privileges, our religion and our leader", continuing that any such action would be akin to "stirring up a hornet's nest". The following day, Dr. Pirdaus Ismail, a UMNO Youth Executive Committee member, stated, "Badruddin did not pose the question to all Chinese in the country. Those who are with us, who hold the same understanding as we do, were not our target. In defending Malay rights, we direct our voice at those who question them." Agreement on the continued implementation (or reimplementation) is not always unanimous within the ruling
Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
coalition. In 2005,
Khairy Jamaluddin Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar ( Jawi: ; born 10 January 1976) is a Malaysian politician. He most recently served as Minister of Health in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from August 2021 t ...
, the UMNO deputy youth chief was debated by then MCA (the major Chinese component party of the ruling
Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
) vice-president
Chua Jui Meng Dato' Chua Jui Meng (; born 22 October 1943) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) of Dewan Rakyat for the Bakri constituency in the State of Johor for five terms from 1986 to 2008. He was the country's longest serv ...
on a nationally televised debate – both leaders agreed to Chua's proposal to set up a national committee to review the NEP. However, as of 8 March 2008 general elections, this has yet to be implemented. Because of the controversy over affirmative action policies in Malaysia, especially the NEP, it has been feared that the NEP may indirectly contribute to a decrease in foreign investment. In 2005, foreign investment fell by US$4 billion, or 14% – a decrease some commentators attributed to the controversy over the government's ethnic policies.


Equity calculation

The calculation of Bumiputra-held economic equity has been frequently disputed, with a number of allegations from some quarters that the government intentionally underestimated the share of Bumiputra equity to justify the NEP and its related policies. Although many affirmative action measures of the NEP were continued under the National Development Policy which ran from 1990 to 2000, and later by the National Vision Policy set to run from 2000 to 2010 – leading many Malaysians to refer to the NEP in the present tense – the official Bumiputra equity share remained less than the original 30% target.Ahmad, Abdul Razak & Chow, Kum Hor (22 October 2006). "The nation's economic pie in perspective", pp. 20–21. ''New Sunday Times''. In 2006, a major dispute arose when the Asian Strategic and Leadership Institute (ASLI) issued a report calculating Bumiputra-held equity at 45% – a stark difference from the official figure of 18.9%. The report's publication triggered a relatively vocal public debate about the status of the NEP and its related policies, with many from UMNO questioning the methodology used by ASLI. One strongly disputed issue was ASLI's decision to consider government-linked companies (GLCs) as Bumiputra-owned, inflating the calculated figure of Bumiputra equity. Although ASLI later withdrew the report, citing unspecified errors in its methodology, the debate did not die down. One political analyst suggested that "If Bumiputra equity is 45 per cent, then surely the next question is, why the need for Bumiputera rights? It has implications for government policy and it (removing indigenous rights) is one thing UMNO will never accept at present." Others have argued that the debate over inter-ethnic disparities has obscured intra-ethnic inequities, citing the increased Gini coefficient for Bumiputras (from 0.433 in 1999 to 0.452 in 2004), Chinese (0.434 to 0.446) and Indians (0.413 to 0.425). A major point of dispute was the government's use of
par value Par value, in finance and accounting, means stated value or face value. From this come the expressions at par (at the par value), over par (over par value) and under par (under par value). Bonds A Bond_(finance), bond selling at par is priced at 1 ...
(as opposed to
market value Market value or OMV (Open Market Valuation) is the price at which an asset would trade in a competitive auction setting. Market value is often used interchangeably with ''open market value'', ''fair value'' or ''fair market value'', although the ...
) of shares to calculate the equity held by Bumiputras. Many questioned the ASLI study on the basis that it had not used par value; conversely, others criticise the government for not using market valu

On another note, some critics later noted that a 1997
University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
study had calculated the Bumiputra share of equity to stand at 33.7%, using par value. UMNO critics contend that the official figure does not take into account the huge volume of shares, amounting to 7.9 percent in 1999, that is held by nominee companies. Independent studies have revealed that politicians and political parties, including UMNO, have resorted to using nominee companies to conceal their ownership of corporate equity from public scrutiny. Also, branded conglomerates like
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
and
Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian oil and gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with all oil and gas reso ...
are not regarded by the government as ''Bumiputra'' companies. This approach tends to exaggerate non-Malay purchasing power. It is also not clear if the government calculations included the 2.7 million unincorporated businesses in the country. At the UMNO General Assembly that year, Education Minister and UMNO Youth Chief
Hishamuddin Hussein Hishammuddin bin Hussein ( Jawi: هشام الدين بن حسين; born 5 August 1961) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as Senior Minister of the Security Cluster and Minister of Defence from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Unite ...
quoted a local study indicating that at current rates, it would take the Malays "120 years to achieve income parity". He also cited a 2004 statistic indicating that for every RM 1 earned by a Malay, a Chinese earned RM 1.64 as evidence that the income gap had not been eliminated. The Deputy Youth Chief,
Khairy Jamaluddin Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar ( Jawi: ; born 10 January 1976) is a Malaysian politician. He most recently served as Minister of Health in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from August 2021 t ...
, proposed increasing the target "quota" if non-Malays continued to allege that the 30% target had been met, as "By any yardstick, the Malays are still left behind".


Brain drain

See Brain Drain (Malaysia) In simple words, a lot of non-Malays (Chinese, Indian) have left Malaysia to seek greener pastures (other developed countries) that does not practice policies that favors one race over the others in political, economical, and social context. This is believed to have led to the shortage of skilled workers, that directly causes the inability of Malaysia to pursue rapid economic development during the early 1960s until 1990s, during which the
East Asian Tigers The Four Asian Tigers (also known as the Four Asian Dragons or Four Little Dragons in Chinese and Korean) are the developed East Asian economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Between the early 1960s and 1990s, they underwent ra ...
have done so.


Recent developments


NEP for the southern Thailand Muslims

The chief minister of Malaysia's
Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...
State also PAS ( Islamic Party of Malaysia) spiritual leader Nik Aziz said that
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
should consider introducing an affirmative action policy like Malaysia's to narrow the social and economic gap between the
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
and non-Muslims and to put a plug to the surging violence in southern Thailand


Poll shows most Malaysians want NEP to end

71% of Malaysians agree with the statement that
Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
's "race-based affirmative action policy is obsolete and must be replaced with a merit-based policy", the survey poll was conducted by the independent Merdeka Centre between 18 June 2008 and 29 July 2008, the result showed that up to 65 per cent of Malays who were asked the question agreed that race-based affirmative action should be done away, compared with 83 per cent of Chinese and 89 per cent of Indian respondents.Poll shows most Malaysians want NEP to end


Najib ready to end special privileges for Malays

In October 2008, the deputy prime minister
Datuk Seri The Malay language has a complex system of Style (manner of address), styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several Pro ...
Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...
said "if we do not change, the people will change us". "In the not-too-distant future, we will see all the elements of the New Economic Policy being replaced." "It's a huge challenge," "There must be this political will and desire to change within UMNO. I don't think we can expect people to look at us in more favourable terms unless we change, unless we rectify our weaknesses."


See also

*
Ali Baba (business) Ali Baba is a term describing business practices in Malaysia and Indonesia involving indigenous and non-indigenous cooperation to take advantage of affirmative action provisions favouring indigenous Malays or Native Indonesians. In this arrangeme ...
*
Buku Jingga Buku Jingga, a Malay phrase literally translated as Orange Book, was a political manifesto of the Malaysian political coalition Pakatan Rakyat, which was made up of three major component parties: Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), People's Justi ...
* ''Bumiputera'' (Malaysia) *
Economy of Malaysia The economy of Malaysia is the third largest in Southeast Asia and the List of countries by GDP (nominal), 34th largest in the world in terms of GDP. The 2018 labour productivity of Malaysia was measured at Int$55,360 per worker, the third high ...
* ''
Ketuanan Melayu ''Ketuanan Melayu'' (Jawi script: كتوانن ملايو; "Malay Overlordship") is a political concept that emphasises Malay preeminence in present-day Malaysia. The Malays of Malaysia have claimed a special position and exceptional rights ...
'' *
New Economic Model The New Economic Model (NEM) 2011-2020 was an economic plan in Malaysia unveiled on 30 March 2010 by Prime Minister of Malaysia, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak which was intended to more than double the per capita income in Malaysia by 2 ...
*
Native Indonesians Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, India ...
*
Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities creat ...
in South Africa


Notes and references


Other references

* Bennet, Abang (30 October 2005)
" UMNO: A threat to national prosperity"
''Malaysia Today''. * Goh, Cheng Teik (1994). ''Malaysia: Beyond Communal Politics''. Pelanduk Publications. . * Jeong Chun Hai @Ibrahim. (2007). Fundamental of Development Administration. Selangor: Scholar Press. * Musa, M. Bakri (1999). ''The Malay Dilemma Revisited''. Merantau Publishers. . * Ye, Lin-Sheng (2003). ''The Chinese Dilemma''. East West Publishing. . * James Chin (2009) James Chin
The Malaysian Chinese Dilemma: The Never Ending Policy (NEP)
Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, Volume 3, 2009, pp. 167–182 * Durrishah Idrus (2003)

ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100917073846/http://www.fppsm.utm.my/jurnal-kemanusiaan.html Jurnal Kemanusiaan. * Just Faaland, Mukhriz Mahathir and Khairy Jamaluddin (2003). ''Malaysia's new economic policy: An overview''. Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd. *James Chin (2021
Affirmative Action at 50 in Malaysia A brief history and evaluation of the NEP
the never-ending policy, Tablet, 25 May


External links



published on 20 August 1990, asking about NEP ''For years, the rules favoured Malays. Should they continue?''
Malaysia's New Economic Policy and "National Unity"
presented by Jomo K. Sundaram at UNRISD conference in Durban, South Africa, 3–5 September 2001. {{Portal bar, Malaysia, Economics Economic history of Malaysia Affirmative action in Asia
New Economic Policy The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
Public policy in Malaysia 1971 establishments in Malaysia 1990 disestablishments in Malaysia