Monday, November 1, 2021

Budget should give more to non-Bumiputeras, says Guan Eng

 

Lim Guan Eng says Pakatan Harapan does not oppose the funds allocated for the Bumiputera community, but would ‘love to see more’ provided for others. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng has expressed disappointment over the allocation for non-Bumiputera communities in Budget 2022, saying it should be increased to better reflect the spirit of “Keluarga Malaysia”.

“If we look at Budget 2022’s allocation for the Bumiputera community, it is RM11.4 billion, while for the non-Bumiputera communities, they got close to RM300 million. It comprises only 0.1% of the total budget,” Lim said during the debate on the 2022 Supply Bill in the Dewan Rakyat.

“We (PH) do not oppose the funds allocated for the Bumiputera community, but we would love to see more funds allocated for the non-Bumiputeras. We hope this budget will be fair and reasonable for all Malaysians to better reflect the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia.”

The 2022 budget allocations announced on Friday included RM11.4 billion for Bumiputera programmes, of which RM6.6 billion is for education programmes. Other allocations include RM4.8 billion for capacity-building programmes and RM100 million in matching grants for Bumiputera SMEs in the aerospace industry.

This led to former law minister Zaid Ibrahim remarking that it is “nice to be a Bumiputera”, noting the billions in allocations provided.

“(This) must be the only country in the world where (the) Budget is race-specific,” he said in a tweet. - FMT

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