Commentary
In 1971, following the convulsions caused by ethnic riots, Malaysia introduced its New Economic Policy (NEP) which provides for affirmative action for the country’s Malay Muslim majority.
Malaysia is a country with a diverse population of 32.37 million, comprising three dominant ethnic groups: 70 percent Bumiputera Malays, 22 percent Chinese, seven percent Indians, and one percent others. “Bumiputera” means “sons of the soil” the Indigenous people of Malaysia, whereas the Chinese and Indians are deemed to be “newcomers” who contributed to the economy when the British ruled Malaysia.
According to Professor James Chin, in 1971, when the NEP was adopted, the “Malay share of corporate wealth … was estimated to be 2.4 percent, and the Chinese 34 percent, with the remainder, said to rest in foreign hands.”…