NEW ERA OF 1MALAYSIA WITH GOVERNMENT TRANSFORMATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- The nation will usher in a new era of
1Malaysia 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
partipciation from all races, according to the GTP Roadmap launched by Prime
Minister Najib Tun Razak Thursday.

"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 multhi-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 (son
of soil) 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 1Malaysia.

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

In fostering a 1Malaysia 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