KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Putrajaya will continue to protect the economic interests of other ethnic groups when seeking to improve the social-economic conditions of the Malays and Bumiputera community, Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh has said.
Idris gave his reassurance that the constitutional rights of the non-Malays to run their businesses autonomously would continue to be protected by the government.
“The autonomy of the private sector economy that is controlled by the non-Malays and non-Bumiputera, (which) is the largest component in the country’s whole economy, is still preserved and protected by Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.
“However, the government is still not satisfied with the social-economic achievements of the Malays and the Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak. The government will continue to strengthen their socio-economical position continuously and at the same time, protect the social-economic interests of other races,” Idris was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia’s weekend edition today.
He reportedly said the government does not act like Robin Hood by robbing to help the poor, saying that it was instead providing opportunities and aid to enable the poor — particularly Malays and the Bumiputera in East Malaysia — to improve their social-economic conditions.
These groups will be aided through education, businesses and the civil service without affecting the economic interests of other races, Idris said.
Last month, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Putrajaya’s agenda to empower Bumiputera with over RM31 billion is aimed at creating an economic justice for the community, and to pay-off the country’s debt to them.
In his defence of the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment agenda unveiled by the prime minister in September, Zahid said that the policy should not be viewed as being unfair to non-Malays as it was merely aimed at raising the Malays’ economic stature to be on par with their peers.
In the same October 13 interview with Utusan Malaysia, Zahid constantly assured non-Malays that there was no move to strip away their rights, saying that their opportunities had never been taken away.
On September 13, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a list of over RM31 billion in various loans, contracts and programmes that will be made available to Bumiputera, to strengthen their economic participation and boost their ownership of commercial property.
On September 20, the Chinese-based MCA’s Datuk Chua Tee Yong had urged Putrajaya to be more inclusive in distributing the RM31 billion aid under the Bumiputera economic agenda and ensure that no Malaysians would being sidelined.
