Multicultural Malaysia's race agenda in 13MP

Multicultural Malaysia's race agenda in 13MP

Mariam Mokhtar
Published: Aug 1, 2025 11:55 AM
Updated: 1:55 PM


COMMENT | No other country on earth can be more multicultural, multifaith, multiethnic and muhibbah than Malaysia, and yet, when it comes to Malaysia Plans, our leaders suffer from moral cowardice.

Will it break the bank to accord equal status to the non-Malays, irrespective of their socio-economic status, in the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP)? The 13MP has not shed its race-based agenda.

Were the formerly "Malaysian Malaysia" DAP politicians ambushed by pro-bumiputera cabinet members into accepting another recycled version of a bumiputera agenda?

I cannot be the only one who is troubled by living in a “two-tiered” nation where one race is treated preferentially over all others.

All along, we were under the impression that it was the majority Malay mindset which presented the most challenges to any politician. Perhaps it is the mindset of the Malay politicians which is difficult to shift.

Will they ever learn that chasing after Malay votes to cling on to power is not a good reason to remain as the prime minister?

On July 31, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim tabled the 13MP and declined to admit that there would be a continuation of the five-decades-old bumiputera agenda; but as he knew we would be disappointed, he threw in the “sweetener”, whereby only low-income Chinese and Indians will have their lives uplifted.

First, he claimed that his administration would "move away from the race-based solution approach to a concept of providing solutions based on (the rakyat's) actual needs."

How can he then say that only low-income Chinese and Indian communities will be given a comprehensive plan to uplift their socio-economic status?


Cherry picking

He is creating more confusion with his mixed message. Why cherry-pick when offering much-needed help?

This will create resentment among the Chinese and Indians.

Although some Malays may praise Anwar for being all-inclusive and generous, how would the middle-class non-Malays feel? They also struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.

They have made huge sacrifices to improve their lives. Why can't the authorities acknowledge that they, too, could do with a bit of help?

Is being born a Malaysian not good enough for Madani? Sometimes it feels as if immigrant Indonesians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are treated with more civility than the true-blue Malaysians.

Moreover, how will the Madani administration determine who among the Chinese and Indians is of “low-income”? Will everyone’s means be tested?

Will means testing be extended to include the middle-class Malays to make it equitable and fair for all?

It would have made more sense if Anwar had said that in the 13MP, bumiputera initiatives would be off limits for the elite, especially the Malay uber-rich.

People like the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak, the former ambassador to the United States, the late Jamaluddin Jarjis, whom Malaysians discovered was a billionaire only because of the open public squabbles over his inheritance by members of his family.


More bumiputera agenda

Under the 13MP, Anwar wants to create more bumiputera public listed companies, but will he remember that small and medium enterprises (SME) are the bedrock of the Malaysian economy?

Ordinary Malaysians reject the creation of more “instant” bumiputera millionaires who will piggyback on the New Economic Policy (NEP), who have no shame and who will take advantage of the affirmative action policies and then enrich themselves at the expense of their poorer cousins.

Some of these instant multi-millionaires stash their wealth overseas, away from prying local eyes, and we only learn about their hidden wealth when the western media reveals it in exposés like the Pandora Papers (2021), the Paradise Papers (2017) and the Panama Papers (2016).

Or when their profligate lifestyle in the form of luxury homes, or their taxpayer-funded collection of multi-million gems and designer handbags, is revealed by the Western media.

Five decades of helping bumiputeras via the NEP have not achieved the desired results. The Malays have failed to acquire 30 percent equity ownership in the economy. Repeating the same failed methods is madness.


What reform?

According to Anwar, the five-year 13MP is a strategic framework for the country's economic, social and environmental priorities, in a time when the country has to “navigate an increasingly complex global environment and embark on an ambitious domestic reform agenda”.

The proposal to mine coal in Sabah is environmentally damaging. Moreover, what reform agenda is Anwar referring to?

He will be instantly popular, and there will be no more "Turun Anwar" rallies if he would only do one thing, and that is to commence work immediately on the promised reforms.

He can start by weeding out the corrupt politicians in his cabinet, especially those who have DNAAs (discharge not amounting to acquittal) or have been fully acquitted.

If Anwar claims he is pro-reform, then he has to be more radical in his approach. People fear change, and this includes Anwar and perhaps around 97 percent of the Malay politicians. This is what five decades of being mollycoddled and pampered from the cradle to the grave have done to a once resilient race.

The Malays have been brainwashed into thinking they are weak, or that the Chinese will rob them of their wealth, their country, their religion and their lifestyle. Actually, politicians and religious extremists have robbed the ordinary Malay of his ability to think for himself.

With a desire to move away from race-based to needs-based, will Anwar now hold a Malaysian Economic Congress instead of one just for bumiputera?

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, X.