ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL POLICY HAS FAILED EAST M’SIA, SAYS ECONOMIST

PETALING JAYA: One-size-fits-all policies drawn up for Bumiputeras in both Peninsular and East Malaysia have failed to close the economic gap between the two, an economist said.

Madeline Berma, a fellow at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, said policies and programmes that were drawn up by Putrajaya in the past had limited input from Sabah and Sarawak which has had a detrimental effect on the economy of both states.

“This is because the Bumiputera communities in these states are diverse and face different socio-economic realities,” she told FMT.

Since the 70s, Malaysia has implemented various development policies, including the New Economic Policy, the National Development Policy and the National Vision 2020 Policy, said Madeline.

These are over and above the five-year Malaysia Plans, now in its 13th iteration, she added.

Madeline said these initiatives have been credited with reducing poverty and narrowing inter-ethnic inequalities, achievements which, but for the 1997 financial crisis, would have led Malaysia to Asian Tiger status alongside Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“Despite this success, the gap between rural and urban areas, as well as between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak, is widening.

“The current policies are no longer sufficient to address these new economic challenges,” she said.

Madeline was commenting on observations made by World Bank senior economist Ririn Salwa Purnamasari that the economic security of the Bumiputeras has grown rapidly over the past two decades, although this progress has not been felt equally in East Malaysia.

Ririn said nearly 30% of Bumiputeras were now deemed economically secure, up from 5% in the early 2000s.

However, she said most of the progress to date has been enjoyed by Bumiputeras who live in Peninsular Malaysia, with their East Malaysian counterparts not faring as well.

Madeline said the special financial allocation agreed upon under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), has not been consistently implemented or revised over the years.

While recent efforts have been made to increase allocations to Sabah and Sarawak, structural problems persist, she said, adding that Sabahans and Sarawakians have been marginalised through underrepresentation in the civil service, government-linked companies (GLCs) and scholarship programmes.

Madeline called for the decentralisation of power to empower Sabah and Sarawak. She said MA63 must be adhered to and development allocations for education, healthcare, connectivity and infrastructure to both states must be increased.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya called for a new economic policy to be drawn up specially for Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. He said its implementation will ensure progress in the two Borneo states.

“We need to ensure that this special economic policy benefits all the locals (in East Malaysia), not just the elites.”

Firdausi Suffian, CEO of Invest Sabah, an agency that promotes investments in the state said it may take up to 10 years to close the income disparity between Peninsular and East Malaysia.

He said the progress would be gradual, although the special incentives for Sabah and Sarawak in Budget 2025, along with the increase in minimum wage to RM1,700, will help accelerate the process.

He also said East Malaysia would need more investments to restructure the economy.

“If priority is given to these two states we would be able to close the gap between Bumiputeras in the peninsula and those in Sabah and Sarawak faster.”

2025-02-08T23:15:21Z