Hello GTP...

The nation will usher in a new era of 1 Malaysia with the implementation of a New Economic Model and the delivery of results of the unprecedented Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

This will lead to a thriving modern economy, united society and competent government to address issues such as brain drain, capital flight and positive participation from all races, according to the GTP Roadmap launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today.

“Our mission of unity is not merely for the sake of harmony and good relations, but is critical to building a productive and competitive Malaysia and achieving Vision 2020.

“While our path to Vision 2020 may be difficult, we trust that the benefits will be greater, given the richer resultant cultural diversity and competitive advantage this approach engenders,” it said.

The Roadmap stressed that it was imperative to promote integration through inclusiveness in managing the polarity between assimilation and segregation in Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society.

“Many of the issues that we grapple with as a nation — and which the rakyat have identified as important — are in fact polarities, such as between rich and poor, between young and old and across religions, races and regions.”

Delivering the six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) outlined in the GTP would reduce disparities and mitigate the sense of deprivation and discontent that were sometimes expressed in racial terms, it said.

The six NKRAs are crime reduction, combating corruption, improving education, raising the living standards of low-income households, upgrading rural basic infrastructure and improving urban public transport.

The Roadmap noted that the implementation of the National Economic Policy (NEP) had led to “certain unintended results”, among them a sense of deprivation and discrimination felt by non-Bumiputeras due to the over-zealous approach of officers of certain agencies.

There has also been a widening of the income gap within the Bumiputera community, causing rising discontent among certain segments of the community. These factors had pushed many Malaysians, especially professionals, to migrate and the brain drain had become increasingly serious.

Adding to the establishment of Ekuinas, the private equity fund to promote Bumiputera economic participation, and the liberalisation of the financial sector and 27 sub-sectors, more initiatives are expected to be announced in the first quarter of this year.

The government will upgrade the quality of national schools to be the schools of choice for all students with the provision of pupils’ own language and a more multi-inclusive atmosphere as among the steps to address education and national unity under 1 Malaysia.

Other initiatives include having 1 Malaysia boarding schools with multiracial students and awarding national scholarships to study at international universities based on merit.

In fostering a 1 Malaysia government, it has been proposed that the mention of race on government forms be eliminated except for the purpose of census and statistics.

It is also suggested that more Chinese and Indians be encouraged to join the civil service while officers of Bumiputera origin from Sabah and Sarawak will be upgraded. — Bernama