KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): Nearly 64 years after attaining independence, Malaysia’s bumiputera agenda has yet to bear the desired results.
This is because poverty continues to haunt the biggest component of the nation’s population while bumiputera corporate equity ownership is still far below the government’s 30% target.
According to media reports, the incidence of poverty among the bumiputera stood at 7.2 percent as of 2019, compared with 1.4% (Chinese) and 4.8% (Indians).
As for bumiputera equity ownership, it stood at 16.2% in 2020 compared with 23% in 2011 and 19.3% in 1990.
Addressing the widening economic disparity may be a huge challenge for the government as Malaysia readies itself to face the post-COVID-19 era because the pandemic has had detrimental effects on bumiputera economy and incomes.