Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is not being honest and sincere in his assurances that the government will not marginalise efforts to empower urban and rural Chinese communities in the tabling of the forthcoming Budget 2023. Such assurances are easily dismissed as empty rhetoric for the forthcoming general election when during the first Budget 2022 presented as Prime Minister, both the Chinese and Indian community were obviously discriminated against in terms of Budget allocations.
In the 2022 Budget, RM11.4 billion was allocated for the Bumiputera community as compared to a mere RM345 million for the Chinese and Indian communities put together. If we include the RM274 million allocated to the orang asli community in the bumi column, the RM345 million for the Chinese and Indian community is less than 3% of the RM 11,674 million for the bumi and orang asli community.
No one opposes the RM 11,674 million allocation to the bumi and orang Asli community in the 2022 Budget. But can Ismail Sabri explain why the Indian and Chinese community deserve only RM345 million or less than 3% of the RM11,674 million that is given to the bumi and orang Asli community?
Even Malay economists had pointed out to Ismail touting his Malay and Muslim government with particular emphasis on race and religion. How can Ismail ensure that Budget 2023 is focused on the welfare and well-being of the people as a whole, when the Budget is race-specific and not based on needs?
It is regrettable that Ismail Sabri talks about the different cultures in the country, strengthening the relationship among the races, and allowing them to learn the philosophies of the cultures only during the election season. I cannot recall him encouraging the hosting of Chinese cultural programmes before. All we can remember is Ismail’s failed Digital Mall project in Kuala Lumpur exclusively for bumi entrepreneurs.