FORMER PM TO LAUNCH BOOK ON INDIANS IN M'SIA

SHAH ALAM (Malaysia), Dec 8 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi is scheduled to launch a book, titled "National Development Plans
and Indians in Malaysia: A Need for Comprehensive Policies and Effective
Delivery" next week.

The book, written by Dr Denison Jayasooria, a policy research
advocate, will be launched at the Malaysian Integrity Institute in Kuala Lumpur
on Dec 17.

It provides a comprehensive record of public policy documents based on
policy outcomes in addressing the concerns of the Indian community especially of
those at the bottom 30 to 40 per cent of the socio-economic ladder.

Denison said the book also provides a historical review of how the federal
government responded to these documents through subsequent policy and programmme
interventions.

"The release of all these documents in a single volume reveals the
articulation of Indian concerns. Some of the sections in the book will also
reveal the policy response and commitment of the federal government in
addressing these concerns," he told Bernama.


The 350-page book, written in the national language and English, is divided
into four parts and contains thirty chapters based on work undertaken between
1999 to 2010.

It is a compilation of a series of feedback from the Economic Planning Unit
(EPU) in the Prime Minister’s Department and the MIC, the largest Indian-based
political party in the country.

The book will be sold at RM30 per copy.

Denison, who is former Suhakam commissioner, said that Malaysia had
effectively undertaken the formulation of public socio-economic policies through
a five year development plan.

"While this dimension is primarily the role of federal government agencies
such as the EPU, the planning process has also creatively incorporated community
input, analysis and feedback," he added.

Meanwhile, Founding Director of Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) from
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Prof Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin said
that although the book highlighted mainly Indian cases, it casts a wider
intellectual and analytical net and raises many pertinent questions that others
could take a cue from.

"The book fills the critical gap in our knowledge about the feedback process
in our development planning effort," he added.

-- BERNAMA