NGO Pertubuhan Negarawati Tanah Air has apparently called for Bumiputera equity ownership to be raised to 50% in line with the growing Bumiputera population.
Demanding serious attention from the government of the day, Bibi Sunita Sakandar Khan who is chairman of the all-Malay women movement said the current 30% target should not remain an unfulfilled, long-standing objective.
While the Bumiputera Economic Transformation Plan 2035 (PuTERA35) has set the target of increasing Bumiputera equity ownership by individuals and Bumiputera mandated agencies to 30% by 2035, data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) for 2025 shows that Bumiputera make up 70.5 % of Malaysian citizens.
Remarking that it is time to boldly question whether the existing 30% target remains adequate as a long-term economic aspiration for the Bumiputera community, Bibi Sunita urged the government to initiate a serious national policy review to gradually raise the target to 50%.
“Given that Bumiputera constitute over 70% of the citizenry, it is reasonable for the government to assess whether a long-term economic aspiration higher than 30% is needed,” the Parti Wawasan Negara supreme council member justified in her Budget 2027 wish-list to Malay language news portal TV Pertiwi.
“If Bumiputera form the majority of citizens, why should the ambition for economic mastery stop at 30%? We don’t wish for the 30% figure to be passed down from one generation to the next as a target that is constantly cited but never realised.”
‘Still need crutches to walk’
While expressing hope that the Budget 2027 which is scheduled for tabling on Oct 9 would serve as a genuine mechanism for addressing the grievances of the rakyat, she insisted that the people have the right to demand that long-standing issues be translated into concrete actions, targets and measurable outcomes.
“A budget is not a competition to see who can announce the largest figures; it is a trust involving the management of public funds,” contended the chartered company secretary.
“Its success is not measured by how many hundred billions of ringgit are announced in the Dewan Rakyat but by how much woes of the rakyat can be resolved after funding has been dished out.
“The median monthly wage for formal sector workers in March 2026 was RM3,027. Moreover, the wage gap remains significant with the bottom 10% earning RM1,700 or less.”
Interestingly, even Malay netizens felt ashamed with the NGO’s demand with one rightly pointed out that non-Bumi toiled hard without governmental assistance to earn a living.
“They make their own way up; they are diligent about helping themselves. Please don’t be lazy,” jibed one commenter.
Another felt that the demand by Pertubuhan Negarawati Tanah Air was unjust even if the current 30% Bumiputera equity quota is mandated by law.
“Have they no shame? Just imagine if we impose a rule requiring 30% non-Malay equity in Malay businesses instead,” he hit out.
“Put in your own effort to strengthen the economy through the proper channels. Islam doesn’t teach this kind of behaviour; instead, it emphasises its followers to achieve economic empowerment through their own hard work, not through unfair interventions like this.”
But the comment section is dominated by the non-Bumi fraternity who felt the urge to counter Bibi Sumita’s proposal to hike the Bumi equity quota to 50%.
“Malays are indeed lazy and unable to progress … the ‘crutches’ (special privileges/subsidies) have prevented them from making a real effort,” observed a Penangite bluntly.
“They get everything handed to them … yet they still fail to succeed … they are champions at being copycats though … because copying is the easiest route … they just took a Mitsubishi car, swapped the headlights and – voilà – it became a Proton (Saga) … if China hadn’t stepped in to help, Proton would have bungkus (gone under) a long time ago.”
Others wondered how come it has been umpteen years since the New Economic Policy (DEB) roll-out in 1971 yet the Malays still need a tongkat (walking stick) to make an economic headstart.
This is when one former process/QA engineer became worried that the exorbitant 50% would only prompt investors and multinationals (MNCs) companies to exit Malaysia.
“The equity system acts as a backdoor to gain entry into the country’s investment market,” he ridiculed. “We’ve been independent for 69 years yet are we claiming that we have yet to enjoy development?”
At the end of the day, some commenters resorted to “why not DEMAND for 
” – Sept 11, 2026
- Focus Malaysia
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