The Malay Consultative Council (MPM) will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the lack of protection for Malay interests in the New Economic Model (NEM).

bumiputera equity and money This will be done on Saturday in conjunction with the Bumiputera Economic Congress: NEM 2010, at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Zubir Harun, secretary of the organising committee and vice-president of Malay rights group Perkasa, said recommendations will be drawn up to include the Malay economic agenda in the NEM.

He said several flaws have been identified in the NEM:

  • It is over-dependent on the free market philosophy despite the fact that even the US - the greatest free market proponent - having acknowledged the need for market adjustments.
  • It has failed to address market failures in areas of the economy where the entry barriers are too rigid and favour long-time market players, consortiums or big companies.
  • It has ignored aspects of social justice, the ‘social contract’ between the races and bumiputera rights as enshrined in the constitution.
NONE The conference will feature a panel discussion by economists and other experts who will comment on the keynote address themed ‘The Bumiputera Agenda in the NEM’.

This will be delivered by National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) member Hamzah Kassim, standing in for NEAC chairperson Amirsham Abdul Aziz (right) who is abroad.

Among those invited to sit on the panel are Senator Akbar Ali, former Economic Planning Unit head  Halipah Esa and Malaysian National Defence University senior lecturer Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah.

‘We want our rights’

The memorandum, which will pull together issues raised in discussions, workshops, seminars and roundtables conducted by MPM to date, will be presented to Najib during the closing ceremony at 9pm.

“We are only asking for our rights, we are not being racist. The Chinese and MCA recently asked for more allocations for Chinese schools, so we too want our economic rights,” said Zubir.

One concern of MPM and Perkasa is that the Equal Opportunity Council mooted by the NEAC may contradict Article 153 of the federal constitution which safeguards the special rights of bumiputeras.