Can bumiputera quotas be abolished immediately?

COMMENT | I am a bumiputera. Sure, I come from a mixed parentage, but as we all know, in Malaysia, once you’ve married a bumiputera, your future generation benefits from it. But coming from a mixed family, I can also see the different effects it has on bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras.

I see how I can qualify for public universities and scholarships much easier than my non-bumiputera cousins. I also see how life choices are made differently by me and my relatives. The consideration made due to the bumiputera policy is big.

As we all know, the bumiputera policy is based on the concept of affirmative action, where a push needs to be given so that an underprivileged group can slowly compete on equal footing. Admittedly, the bumiputeras were this underprivileged group 60 years ago.

But we need to take a look at how the policy is doing now, in this day and age. Is it fully serving its purpose anymore? Or has it run its course and is now something that is more oppressive than helpful? After six decades, a re-evaluation is definitely in need.

Now, one of the reasons I have always wanted a change in government from the last Barisan Nasional administration was because, personally, I feel the country can do away with the bumiputera policy now. It doesn’t serve its purpose anymore...