The interest on NEP was ignited in the aftermath of the 12th General Election. At a recent forum, the participants were interested to know if the results marked a rejection of the NEP. I argued that NEP is only a political tool. To understand the future of the policy, we need to look at some implications of the general election.

I offered five main observations. Firstly, the outcome of the GE showed a regional political divide of the populace. BN lost majority support in four key states and the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur. Apart from Kelantan, it retained support of all rural and semi-rural states including the poorest of Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak. Meanwhile, the more urban and industrial states were won by the newly-minted Pakatan Rakyat (PR).