PETALING JAYA - Malaysia’s ambition of becoming a high income nation is a distant dream as long as former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin continue to haggle around Prime Minister Najib Razak’s economic policies.
In a statement to Harakahdaily, DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua (pic) pointed out that Najib’s goal of achieving US$15,000 per capita by 2020 was facing "the biggest stumbling blocks" from both Mahathir and Muhyiddin over “their strident opposition to a fairer and more inclusive Malaysian society”.
“The ‘original’ New Economic Model (NEM) as announced by Najib had called for reforms on the race-based affirmative action system to a need-based one.
"However both these initiatives which are crucial towards a more 'inclusive' Malaysia were killed with the strident racial supremacy agenda expounded by Najib's Deputy, Muhyiddin and his predecessor, Mahathir,” added Pua, saying Najib had ‘stopped’ pursuing his reforms through NEM by introducing the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) to carry on race-based policies under the New Economic Policy (NEP).
Pua said while Muhyiddin had thrown his support behind right wing paper Utusan Malaysia’s call for “1Melayu, 1Bumi” movement to counter Najib’s 1Malaysia, Mahathir chose to be the patron of "the increasingly militant Perkasa movement, hell-bent on institutionalise a Malay-dominant society".
Pua said Mahathir had caused a serious brain drain in the country with his policies, resulting in some one million people venturing out of the country during his reign which ended in 2003.
'World Bank warning'
Pua said a recent World Bank report on Malaysia's brain drain proved that "social injustice" as a result of the NEP was the main reason for local talents to leave for greener pastures.
Among others, the report indicates that 60% of respondents have cited 'social injustice' as a key reason for their leaving the country, while some 87% of respondents suggested that a "paradigm shift away from race-based towards needs-based affirmative action" may entice a migrant to return to Malaysia, and 82% called for fundamental changes in Government and public sector.
The report had been dismissed by Mahathir as "politically motivated".
Pua also hit out at Najib for arguing that country’s brain drain phemonenon had not led to the drop in FDI.
“Don’t forget, it is not all about FDI but also about domestic investment. Seventy-three per cent of our plan involves domestic investment,” he was quoted as saying.
Pua called on Najib to heed the World Bank warnings.
"By remaining in denial, or succumbing to the pressures from Muhyiddin and Mahathir will not only lead to the failure of Talent Corporation, but also Malaysia missing out on our high income nation target," he added, referring to the newly set-up organisation to attract Malaysian diaspora back home.
Harakah Daily
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