KUALA LUMPUR: Malays should take proactive steps to uplift their own status in line with the change of time.
In fact, Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the Malays should lead farsighted mindsets so that they would not become extinct by some point in the future.
“We have to stop the culture of begging, I don’t want to see our race as a fast food nation that wants everything to be delivered fast, including money, aid and assistance.
“It is high time for the Malays to realise and to see the importance of advancement, improvement and rejuvenation.
A race without any advancement or improvement will become extinct,” he told Bernama after attending the World Malay Heritage Congress and Exhibition 2014 here yesterday.
He said this was because despite the fact that the Malays made up over 60 per cent of the total Malaysian population, the Bumiputera’s corporate equity rate was still less than 25 per cent, business premises owned by Bumiputera remained below 25 per cent, while Bumiputera accredited accountants made up only eight per cent.
The two-day Malay World Heritage Congress and Exhibition 2014, which began yesterday, is organised by Malay Businessmen and Industrialists Association of Malaysia (Perdasama) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
It aims to be a platform to gather culture activists, academics, policy makers and other related parties to discuss resolutions which could be catalysts in developing the cultural heritage. — Bernama