ABSTRACT
Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP) was formulated in 1970 and formally presented the following year in the Second Malaysia Plan, 1971–75, with two immediate objectives through which it envisaged would ultimately achieve national unity. The first objective is “eradicating poverty by raising income levels and increasing employment opportunities for all Malaysians, irrespective of race” and the second objective is accelerating the process of restructuring the Malaysian society to correct economic imbalance, so as to reduce and eventually eliminate the identification of race with economic function. As expected, every community in the country has its hopes and worries about the future of the country’s economic development. The NEP, as seen by the government, attempts to emphasize the link between economic performance and stability, and suggests that stability in economic development promotes national unity, which in turn promotes development.
