NEP, not meritocracy the way - Dr M says Malaysia did better than US

KUALA LUMPUR - Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today lauded Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP) for creating a society that he claimed was more equitable than other multiracial nations, including even the United States.

Citing a feature in American magazine Foreign Affairs which included a study of Malaysia’s record on race relations, Dr Mahathir said treating multiracial communities equally using meritocracy has failed to produce tangible results.

“India and South Africa have also tried affirmative action. But their results are not as good as in Malaysia,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog.

“It would seem that Malaysia has done a better job of building a more equitable multiracial society than most multiracial countries including the US. The policy of equality of treatment i.e. meritocracy has not yielded tangible results.”

Dr Mahathir claimed the magazine also admitted that not only has Malaysia’s economy performed better than most developing countries, but its races also seem to be living in relative harmony with no serious racial clashes.

Dr M

According to the former prime minister, Foreign Affairs also mentioned that the NEP seemed to have reduced the disparity in wealth distribution between the indigenous Malays and the ethnic Chinese, where the former’s wealth has now increased to 19 per cent from just 2 per cent before NEP.

“The disparity is still there but is much reduced,” added Dr Mahathir, comparing the situation to the US where Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warned that the disparity between the rich and poor has reached “a dangerous level”.

Citing the magazine, the former prime minister also said that equality in the US has not produced good results, claiming that although African-American Barack Obama occupies the powerful office of US president, most of those in the community are still poor and constantly involved in drugs and crimes.

“Despite the blacks making up just about 10 per cent of the population, the percentage of blacks in prison is nearly 50 per cent. The per capita income of the blacks are well below the national average,” said Dr Mahathir.

“Being equal with the whites has not benefitted the blacks much. No mention is made of the deliberate killings of blacks by the police, who then escape indictment.”

Dr Mahathir also highlighted Foreign Affairs’ reversal of condemnation against Malaysia’s affirmative action, claiming that other foreign media have simply copied obsolete biased reports without investigating the realities of race relations and economy in the country.

The NEP was an affirmative action plan launched by the country's second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein following violent racial riots on May 13, 1969.

It was originally planned to eradicate poverty among Malaysians and narrow the economic gap between the Malays and the ethnic Chinese, by redistributing wealth to promote a 30 per cent economic ownership by the Bumiputera.

Although technically expiring in 1990, many of the NEP’s race-based policies continue to be enforced and even expanded, resulting in simmering discontent among the non-Bumiputera communities, who complain that it deprives them of equal treatment and opportunities. - Malay Mail