The Malaysian Insight

MALAYS will never be neglected as no administration would want to anger the majority race, said Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, adviser to the G25 group of eminent Malays.

He said no party would seek to rile up Malays as doing so would lead to a loss of votes in the next general election.

“The reality is, no political party would want to antagonise Malays with unpopular policies and risk losing Malay support in the next elections,” he said at a forum titled “Malaysia Baru – 61 years after Merdeka, do ethnicity and religion still matter?”.

The former Finance Ministry secretary-general said if the country’s institutions were strong, Malays need not fear getting sidelined.

“When the institutions are strong, ethnicity and religion are not matters of concern.

“There are constitutional safeguards to ensure that the basic character of the country as a monarchy-democratic system of government remains permanent.”

He added that given Malays’ growing numbers, the community should not fear getting “overthrown”.

“Also, by virtue of Malays being the majority race and having a high birth rate, their constitutional position won’t change.”

Sheriff said there were those who stoked tensions by claiming that the new Pakatan Harapan government would infringe on Malay rights.

“Some question whether this will undermine the special rights and privileges of Malays and Islam in the country, and whether it is the first step towards turning the country into a secular republic, where the Malay monarchy is replaced.”

Therefore, he said, PH faced an uphill battle to ensure its policies would not leave Malays feeling neglected.

“Similarly, to strengthen competitiveness in the economy and reduce wastage and leakages in public expenditure, there is a need to restructure, from race-based to needs-based policies, as well as review government-linked companies in the commercial sector, because they have been accused of competing unfairly with genuine entrepreneurs.

“Now, bold measures, like the move to revamp the New Economic Policy, will be met with strong opposition, like what happened to the New Economic Model.” – August 28, 2018.