PM’s policy of race-based affirmative action: DAP should correct & ensure fair administration

On Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad interview with Channel News Asia, where he highlighted that policies to help the country's ethnic majority Malays will be continued. In so doing, such differentiation in policies will inevitably exclude the Chinese whom Tun Mahathir has labelled as “richer.” Race-centric policies have weaknesses and DAP should immediately rectify them, and ensure that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government can implement a just and egalitarian administration.

DAP’s Cabinet Ministers namely Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng, Minister of Transport Antony Loke, Minister of Human Resources Kulasegaran and Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh should correct the Prime Minister in the next Cabinet meeting to ensure that the principles promised in the Pakatan Manifesto, and DAP’s concept of “Malaysian Malaysia” can be fully implemented in the PH government, so as to protect all disadvantaged groups, ensure fair treatment is accorded to them irrespective of ethnicity.

The stereotype that “Chinese are rich” as conveyed by the Prime Minister is disturbing and it also violates the principles of justness as pledged in the Pakatan Manifesto. Wealth or poverty are by no means exclusive to any specific ethnic group. The Prime Minister cannot adopt a simple contradiction of judging a specific ethnicity as requiring aid as opposed to another race he deems to not entail any help.

We urge the four DAP Cabinet Ministers to correct the position which the Prime Minister holds when they next hold their Cabinet Minister. DAP should also ensure that the government can execute the following:

1)  Ensure that government projects are procured through true open tenders, and that there are no specific race restrictions, allow competent contractors to be awarded with government projects based on merit, quality, price.

2)  Ensure the distribution of scholarships be based on academic results, family background, and that there are no fixed advantages or hurdles targeted against any specific ethnic groups.

3)  Ensure that when funds from Tabung Harapan Malaysia are utilised, standard procedures of the past must be followed whereby low-income groups or families are the beneficiaries.

DAP must prevent the country from regressing under the leadership of Tun Mahathir, nor reverse to the past race-centric political models and economic policies when he was first elected. Take note that BR1M or PR1MA programmes under the BN government, or other welfare programmes no longer made considerations on the basis of ethnicity, but assessed based based on people’s incomes and needs.

Datuk Chong Sin Woon
MCA Youth Chairman

-MCA online-