Budget 2022: Racially configured, election targeted

[superadmin]

From Ramesh Chander, Lim Teck Ghee and Murray Hunter

Perhaps the most depressing takeaway from the budget presented in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 29 is that it is the most racially-configured of budgets in the nation’s history.

Former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim tweeted: “Nice to be Bumiputeras… billions set aside. (This) must be the only country in the world where (the) Budget is race-specific” soon after the budget was tabled. He added that it was also “nice” to be a civil servant since they were “always getting cash handouts”.

According to official estimates, Budget 2022’s allocation for the Bumiputera community comes up to RM11.4 billion, while the amount for the non-Bumiputera communities is about RM300 million or a 2.6% equivalent. This works out to about RM577 per Bumiputera vs RM15 per Chinese and RM75 per Indian.

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