Affirmative action policies should have 'graduation date', says don

PUTRAJAYA: Any introduction of affirmative action policies must have its own measurements, aims, effective mechanisms and cannot be extended "forever", says Tan Sri Noor Azlan Ghazali (pic).

The Malaysian Inclusive Development and Advancement Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia director said that among the considerations before introducing any affirmative action policies was that it must have its own specific time period.

"Most importantly, in this context, it should have a 'graduation date'.

"Affirmative policies must have a starting date and also an ending date.

"I am not talking about those listed under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

"But other policies must have their own aim and target, proper mechanisms and a graduation date.

"It cannot be forever," he said in his speech on the first day of the 2024 Bumiputera Economic Congress here.

"If we don't have a graduation date, we will form a long-term culture of dependency and this is what is happening in the context of providing subsidies in our country," he said.

Aside from that, policy makers must know the real reason behind introducing affirmative policies.

"Will the policy help in improving welfare?

"Will it help in improving the livelihood of a certain targetted group so they will be more productive?

"Will the assistance help a selected group of entrepreneurs to find a new market overseas?

"Each of the affirmative policies, whether it is for bumiputra or other groups, must answer all these questions," he said.

The policy makers must also find proper identification of the groups that they want to assist.

"Who will be eligible? Are we going to use through racial criterias? Or do we have additional criterias on top of it, or is it based on merit and capabilities or the location of the group?," he asked.

Such policies must also be implemented effectively through proper mechanisms, he added.

"Do we give cash assistance, or cash assistance with certain criteria?

"Will there be specific training development programmes or do we equip them with proper and more advanced tools?

"Do we help in their promotion or how do we do it?," added Noor Azlan.

"Please answer all of these questions before introducing any affirmative action policies, or if it is unclear, it means that the policy is not good or incomplete," he argued.

The KEB 2024 will be held from Feb 29 to March 2 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) and will see the participation of 5,000 stakeholders discussing various issues on how to empower the Bumiputra economy.