13th M Sia Plan Marginalises Chinese Indians

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 What is the point of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim defending the government’s bumiputera policies when the administration has given in other areas to the overall detriment of the country?
At the same time, Anwar defended the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) by saying that it was far superior to the other five-year plans because financial allocations to the bumiputera far exceeded previous ones.
Again, it is the same contradictory Anwar who defended the 13MP by saying that it was race and religion-neutral.
Yet the Chinese and Indians were given a pittance in financial allocations.
ADSThe Malaysian Economic Transformation Unit (Mitra), which used to be allocated RM100 million per year, seems to have been abandoned.
In this respect, the 13MP is the worst five-year plan in comparison to others.
Essentially, the Chinese and Indians have been taken for a long ride.
Minorities now politically irrelevant
Yet there are still cheerleaders in DAP and PKR who seem to be blind and deaf to the injustice committed by the Madani government.
Given the political competition between the Pakatan Harapan-led coalition and the PN coalition on the matter of the bumiputera, the Chinese and Indians have become politically irrelevant.
Since the focus of the opposition is overwhelmingly on bumiputera matters, Chinese and Indian matters do not pose a political problem for the Madani government.
Interestingly, Chinese and Indian matters are not even given prominence by political parties within the PN coalition.
Even if the government does not give importance to the Chinese and Indians, surely the opposition has a duty to take up matters involving the communities, at least to pressure the government to address them.
The overly mono-ethnic concerns of the opposition could be one of the reasons why the government neglects the pressing issues of the Chinese and Indians.
Without this inclusive approach, it would be difficult for the opposition to make serious inroads in the Chinese and Indian communities. - Mkini
P RAMASAMY is former Penang deputy chief minister II.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT

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