SHAH ALAM, March 22 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should present his much anticipated 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) for public debate before it goes to Parliament, to allow the public to participate fully in deciding the country’s direction for the next five years, Lim Kit Siang said today.

The DAP veteran said it would only work to the country’s benefit to allow a full national debate before the long-term economic master plan is brought to Parliament in its next meeting from May 18 to June 18.

“I call on the Prime Minister to make public the 11th Malaysia Plan by middle of April to allow for a full month of national dissection, discussion and debate... before Parliament debates the next five-year plan which will end with the 30-year Vision 2020,” he said in his keynote address at a forum on the 11MP.

Despite the drop in inter-ethnic inequality in the country – which contributed to 4 per cent of overall inequality levels in 2009 according to the UNDP’s Malaysia Human Development Report 2013 – Lim stressed that inequality still exists between social classes within ethnic communities.

He said the widespread availability of information and increased urbanisation have only served to highlight the stark differences in living standards between the “have-a-lot” and the “have-nots”.

“The reality on the ground clearly shows that we still have to focus on poverty, especially relative poverty, which still affects a significant number of Malaysians.

“At the same time, we cannot forget that inequality, not just in terms of income, but also in terms of wealth, is still a very significant challenge in present day Malaysia,” the Gelang Patah MP said.

While education is the most effective solution to the problem, Lim said it must come hand-in-hand with other measures that can help marginalised groups pull themselves out of their rut.

This includes providing living environments that encourage “positive learning outcomes” such as low-cost public housing that provides sufficient public spaces and facilities such as libraries, he said.

“The existing BR1M cash transfers should also be redesigned into conditional cash transfers (CCT) in order to provide incentives for children of poor families to remain in school.

“Special scholarships for children from low income families to pursue post-secondary education opportunities should also be provided,” he said.

In 2010, Najib presented his 10th Malaysia Plan - his first as prime minister - with an allocation of RM230 billion aimed largely at spurring the nation’s economy and to a lesser extend social development.

An estimated 55 per cent of the allocation went to the economic sector, followed by the social sector (30 per cent), security sector (10 per cent) and general administration (5 per cent), according to a report by The Star.