Salleh Keruak lauds Najib’s efforts for non-Bumis
The former Sabah Chief Minister looks severely upon Mahathir’s criticism of Najib, saying the PM is right to look out for non-Bumis.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Salleh Said Keruak took a swipe at former premier Mahathir Mohamad , claiming in his latest blog post the many criticisms aimed at Najib were baseless.
Salleh, who is former Sabah Chief Minister, applauded Prime Minister Najib Razak’s economic and education policies favouring non-Bumiputeras.
He quoted from Mahathir’s blog post today: “Despite all these the Chinese refused to support Najib. They flocked to the opposition and he performed worse than Abdullah in the 13th General Election.”
“That is an unfair statement,” wrote Salleh, “because social reengineering must not be seen just in terms of vote buying but also in terms of social justice.”
He went on to clarify the goal of the NEP, introduced in 1970, as closing the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
“…while in some aspects the NEP is supposed to help the Bumiputeras, at the same time it is also supposed to be colour-blind and to assist the needy non-Bumiputeras.”
But the reality and the rhetoric remain far from the original aim.
Mahathir, whose book The Malay Dilemma provided some of the building blocks of the NEP, has consistently emphasised the policy’s benefits for the Bumiputera community.
