MCA presidental challenger Chua Jui Meng and Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin will appear on TV3 tomorrow to discuss the call for the revival of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Their discussion will be featured on the station's business programme, The Exchange . The recording took place today at TV3's Sri Pentas studio and will be aired tomorrow from 7.30 to 8.00 pm.

At the recent Umno assembly, Khairy led the Umno Youth chorus for the revival of the NEP, saying that the Malays have still not been able to achieve the 30 percent equity target under the NEP.

The calls were greeted with strong criticisms from the Chinese press and Chinese-based parties within the Barisan Nasional.

MCA and Gerakan came out strongly against the NEP revival, arguing that it will be a major set-back in facing the challenges of globalization. They felt that the main issue is raising the competency of the Malays rather than harping on the issue of redistribution only.

The Jui Meng-Khairy debate was arranged yesterday and the invitation is believed to have come from the latter.

Crossed swords

Khairy and Chua have crossed swords on the issue in the media this week. Chua was accused of raising the issue to gain personal mileage in the forthcoming MCA elections.

The MCA veep, however, denied that he was playing politics and said he had raised the concerns of the Chinese community in relation to the NEP in Parliament in 1988.

Chua had released a statement to dismiss the proposal as 'retrogressive and a step backward' and also suggested that the move would arouse fear and insecurity among other communities and foreign investors.

In the programme, the two speakers will be asked to respond to three questions, namely whether the NEP is a retrogressive policy, whether its revival will create fear and anxiety among other communities and ways to tackle poverty issues among the Malays.

The Exchange started on Jan 28 this year and is sponsored by Malaysia Airlines Kargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo).