The beginning of a fair and equal society ?

The beginning of a fair and equal society ?

Malaysiakini reported today that the new Penanag Chief Minister , Lim Guan Eng, has appointed an Indian Malaysian as well as a Malay Malaysian to be Deputy Chief Minister. He has also pleaged to have open tender and do away with NEP in the state.

This is the first time an Indian Malaysian has been appointed as a Deputy Chief of a state, and I really welcome this development.

Malaysiakini reports:

Ramasamy, 58, a political scientist and former academician, said his appointment shows that the state government was sincere in wanting to represent all communities after being given a mandate in the polls.

“I hope other state governments will also follow suit to make all communities represented in their leadership,” he urged.

Mohd Fairus, a newcomer in politics as well, said he will look into issues which are of concern to the Malay community in the state, such as education.

I also come across an article from Wall Street Journal in which it is reported:

The governments in the five opposition-ruled states will “reduce race-based affirmative-action policies and begin to implement a more competitive merit-based system,” opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim told reporters yesterday. He said the five states will try to ensure that the poor among all races receive benefits such as low-cost homes and education.

Dismantling the affirmative-action program — meant to benefit the majority Malays — was one of the main promises of the three-party opposition alliance that made massive gains in Saturday’s elections.

The opposition, guided by Mr. Anwar, won an unprecedented four state governments in addition to one that it already ruled. It also increased its haul in the 222-member Parliament from 19 to 82 seats. Until now, the ruling National Front coalition had never gone below a two-thirds majority since 1969, and had never lost control of more than two of Malaysia’s 13 states.

The result reflected widespread disaffection among the country’s ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities over social and racial inequalities, mainly stemming from the affirmative-action program known as the New Economic Policy. It was started in 1971 to help the Malays, following violent race riots in 1969 that were blamed on the wealth gap between poor Malays and wealthy Chinese. The NEP gives a host of privileges to Malays including preference in government contracts.

The Malaysian state of Penang, which was won by the opposition Democratic Action Party, fired the first salvo against the NEP, long considered an untouchable policy.

Lim Guan Eng, who was sworn in yesterday as the chief minister of the Chinese-dominated Penang, announced that state contracts will no longer be awarded based on NEP. Many state contracts are known to go to businesses with links to the ruling party.

I hope Penang coalition government can succeed in doing away the NEP and yet still be able to look after the interest and needs of all races. I hope it succeeds in eradicating the poverty levels of all races and prove to the Penang Malays that they are well taken care of even without the NEP.

This would then show to the Federal Government that abolition of NEP does not necessarily mean the marginalisation of our Malay brothers.

If Penang succeeds in doing so, then UMNO will have no excuse not to do away with the NEP in the Federal administration.

Ultimately, people of all races will benefit from this and a true Malaysian identity can then be forged.





« MCA please disband and show the way
Give open tender a try »
Responses

It is a good start for Mr. Lim Guan Eng to have ‘open tender’ and ‘2 deputy CMs’. In doing this, Guan Eng has set a benchmark for other states to follow.

It was a thoughtful move to appoint 2 deputy CMs that represent other communities in Penang. Such move is necessary to cushion the effect of shifting in mindset of Penangites in favour of ‘multi-racial’ politics, who I believe are still not able to accept 100% that a Chinese Malaysian Chief Minister could perform his duty equitably. (Due to race-based politics played by BN)

In time to come, I believe deputy CM will not be necessary when all of us can think like genuine ‘True Malaysians’.

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By: A true Malaysian on March 12, 2008
at 5:43 pm