'Doomed bumi plan redux': Zaid says cut taboo cake into equal pieces

Summary

• Ex-minister Zaid Ibrahim says the government’s new Putera35 plan is destined to suffer the same fate as the NEP.

• The only viable plan is to treat Malaysians as equals, he insists.

• However, Malay leaders are not willing to take this route, he adds.

Former minister Zaid Ibrahim, known for his willingness to address taboo topics, has criticised the government’s Bumiputera Economic Transformation Plan 2035 (Putera35).

Describing it as “another NEP (New Economic Policy)”, he predicted that the new plan would lead to similarly disappointing outcomes.

“Why are they doing the same thing over and over again? How innovative can the leaders of GLC and GLIC be if the outcomes have already been decided?” he asked in a social media post.

He was responding to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim challenging the heads of GLICs and GLCs to lead in presenting meaningful proposals and initiatives related to bumiputera economic development.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said this in a post on X today after attending the meeting of the Bumiputera Economic Council (MEB) Number 1 for 2025.

An unimpressed Zaid predicted a similar fate for Putera35.

“This quest to promote bumiputera is never-ending, but I am sure 10 years from now, we will have the same outcome. Bumiputera linked to wealthy tycoons, the royals, top politicians, and civil servants will get richer. The same outcome as in the last 40 years,” he said.

Sole viable option

According to Zaid, the nation’s sole viable and innovative plan is to treat Malaysians as equals, which he conceded is a taboo for politicians.

“Allow all Malaysians to participate and develop the country and allow the country’s wealth to be available to them fairly.

“However, this simple but innovative idea is taboo for politicians. They don’t like to treat us as equals, and they don’t have transparent processes for cutting the cake,” he added.

Zaid claimed that none of the Malay leaders are willing to take this route to prosperity, preferring the culture of “pick and choose” instead.

“Putera35 will again be like other bumiputera plans: an abject failure for the many but a success for the few,” he added.

Putera35, launched last year by Anwar, outlined the government’s goal to have 70 percent of the country’s high-skilled jobs be occupied by the bumiputera, up from 61 percent in 2022.

The plan also seeks to raise bumiputera equity ownership, both by individuals and through bumiputera-mandated agencies, from 18.4 percent in 2020 to 30 percent by 2035.

Aside from this, Putera35 aims to lift the contribution of bumiputera companies to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 15 percent in 2035, from 9.1 percent in 2022.

Following the launch, Bursa Malaysia chairperson Abdul Wahid Omar said the plan would help increase the number of bumiputera companies listed on the stock exchange.

He said there were only 62 bumiputera companies among 945 public-listed companies in 2022, an involvement of only seven percent, while bumiputera equity ownership in Malaysia is around 20 percent, based on past data.

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