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KUALA LUMPUR: A talk on the New Economic Policy by Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharudin went smoothly ? until question time.
Participants of the Malaysian Student Leaders Summit 2007 then ripped into him, accusing him of skirting the issue.
The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia anthropology lecturer’s topic was "New Economic Policy ? Is it still relevant?" The students felt he had not answered the question.
One student walked up and said: "We have been listening to you for almost an hour and, finally, when you came to the question in the topic, you dropped it like a hot potato."
Shamsul replied: "Unless you were sleeping, the answer is actually on the last slide that I showed. We have two solutions, either we retain the status quo or we change the Constitution."
The student was not satisfied. "You haven’t answered the question. In your opinion, is it still relevant?"
Shamsul said: "The question of whether it is relevant or not is not up to us to decide, but up to the people to decide. You should push the wakil rakyat (elected representatives) for a change. I challenge you to ask him to change."
The student persisted: "As an academic, what is your opinion?"
Shamsul said the NEP’s "provision is still there and Malaysians should look at it from every angle".
"Every part has to be negotiated. For instance, we still need a work permit to work in Sabah or Sarawak.
"My suggestion is that we need to look at every part before deciding if it is still relevant."
He received loud applause from the floor for this.
In his talk, Shamsul gave the background to the Constitution and how the NEP was created. He also spoke about the racial riots of May 13, 1969, even relating his personal experience.
His last slide ended with the question: "Is the NEP relevant?"
The participants also applauded fellow students who asked tough questions and also when several students suggested that the NEP be extended to poor Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.
The two-day summit was attended by mostly Malaysian students studying in foreign universities..
