Bull's Eye

Well said. Tengku hits hard and sharp on the New Economic Policy (NEP). Indeed true that the Malays in the competitive world must realise that the protection and special privileges accorded to them by the government to develop them economically, are only a temporary. He described it as a "safety net". These are social safety net so that the Malays would not fall flat in going through the tests and pressures of life. There is a caution however that at the same time, they cannot continue to live in it for another 50 years or the Malay race be crippled and will have to use this social crutch till the rest of the Malay race. That will be a great hindrance for economic growth. The Malay race must learn fast so they need not depend on it forever.

The Malay race must desire progress. They must desire healthy competition and not depending on their social racial status of being Malay. I must agree with Tengku's view that they must move forward on their own accord and to scale greater heights. It is not that they can't do it but there is a lot of sheer hard work and understanding the social context.

The government cannot always help and there will be a time where the help will have to stop due to the global challenges and pressures arising from the many trade agreements like the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) demanded the government to expedite the process so that the Malays would not continue to rely on incentives and privileges handed out by the government. A good example is our own local Iskandar Development Region or other development project of a high scale where the government will have no choice but to lift up certain strict conditions on Malay privileges to see great success for the future of Malaysia.

He also comment that though the NEP is to eradicate poverty and to uplift Malays' integrity and dignity in a short span of time, also seemed to have spared the country from racial turbulent during the 1997 financial crisis as was experienced by Indonesia and as reported by Bernama, the people's unity and harmony have earned respect and honour for Malaysia overseas as a model peaceful and harmonious multiracial nation, particularly at this crucial time when the causes of world conflicts are no longer due to ideological differences but owing to ethnic, cultural and civilization clashes.