Complaining that the New Economic Model (NEM) has ignored bumiputera interests, an umbrella body representing 86 Malay NGOs warned Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to revamp the proposed policy or face their ire.

The Malay Consultative Council (MPM), which organised the one-day Bumiputera Economic Congress today in Kuala Lumpur, passed 33 resolutions that will be delivered to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak so that they can be incorporated into the NEM.

"This is our view which the prime minister should listen to," said the event's organising secretary Zubir Harun.

Chief among their demands is for 67 percent of national wealth be distributed to the Malays and other bumiputera and 33 percent to the non-bumiputera, as per the country's population ratio.

bumiputera economic congress 290510 ibrahim ali Perkasa president and MPM chairperson Ibrahim Ali however explained that this will not affect the portions earmarked for foreign investments.

Another major demand is for all private sector companies, especially those owned by non-bumiputera, be required to sign an official pledge (akujanji) that they will not hinder nor discriminate against the Malays in getting employment, participation in business and gaining access to markets.

This, they claim, is necessary because the private sector still require the "intervention" of the government to create a "level-playing field".

The resolutions passed also included two emergency motions, which Ibrahim said was pushed through by concerned delegates at the congress today.

The first is to urge all state governments and respective local councils to withdraw licences for premises which provide all forms of vice activities, and not just only the recently-approved sports betting.

These include massage parlours, 4D outlets, lottery outlets and liquor shops which the NGOs claimed are the cause of morale decay and social problems in Malaysia and goes against the tenets of Islam.

However, the resolution is silent on the role of federal government in controlling such vices.

Spotlight on Sime Darby and Petronas

The other emergency resolution involved the recent losses suffered by government-linked plantation giant Sime Darby.

According to the resolution, "the losses of Sime Darby can't be shouldered by the former group chief executive Ahmad Zubir Mursyid alone, but must be shared by the rest of the board and its chairperson (former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam) as well."

bumiputera economic congress 290510 crowd The NGOs called for all board members of the GLC to resign for the fiasco.

"If they refuse to resign, the government should sack them," added Ibrahim.

Sime Darby posted a third-quarter net loss of RM308.6 million, which included an earlier-announced RM964 million provision in its energy and utilities division following overruns on projects in Qatar and the Bakun hydro-electric dam.

The congress also passed a resolution calling for national oil company Petronas chief executive Shamsul Azhar Abbas to quit following the “questionable appointment” of key personnel in strategic management positions.

It is believed that what they were referring to was the appointment of a former Parti Rakyat Malaysia member for a senior post - a decision which they said bypassed even Petronas advisor and former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

According to Ibrahim, the action is tantamount to disrespecting Mahathir.

The rest of the resolutions revolved around other grouses involving the NEM.

Among the 126 NGOs represented tonight are the Malaysian Coalition of Malay Writers (Gapena), Perkasa, Prowaris Malaysia, Pekida and the Malaysian 4B Youth Movement.

Najib spoke at the closing ceremony of the congress tonight.

NEM not finalised yet, says Najib