Poor Malays won't get mad if you cut aid to rich Malays, says PSM

Pakatan Harapan needs to focus more on needs-based policies that benefit the B40 group if it wants to stay in power, PSM central committee member Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj said.

However, its policies at present are only spooking the Malays back into the arms of Umno, he said.

Jeyakumar (photo, above) cited a previous move to cut aid to fishermen as an example of an action that made the Malays distrust the Harapan government.

"These were things that sent the wrong message," he said, adding that Umno would capitalise on such things for its own political gain and to bolster support for the party.

Jeyakumar said that if Harapan wanted to cut aid to the people, it should target the rich Malays who benefit from affirmative actions meant to uplift the poor.

"If you stop affirmative action for the rich Malays, even the poor Malays would accept it," he said.

Jeyakumar was speaking at a forum at Taylor's University in Subang Jaya, yesterday, on whether the 'New Malaysia' was more united.

The former Sungai Siput MP also said that if policies are focused on the B40 community, regardless of race, the Malays would still benefit the most as they make up the majority of the lower income group.

He dismissed any notion that giving aid to the poor to help bolster their income would make them lazy and complacent, saying these people deserve such aid as salaries in Malaysia are still very low.

In his opinion, Malaysia is currently more polarised and divided, due in part to the poor Malays losing faith in the government.

However, he said, the onus of uniting Malaysians does not lie only on the government, but also the people as well.

He suggested that one example of uniting Malaysians would be, for university students, to do social work, such as providing free tuition to the underprivileged.

"When the government sees these things, they will follow your example," Jeyakumar said. - Mkini