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Article: Malaysia makes bold changes in race-based policies
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- July 3, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (Hide copyright information)
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The economic downturn is allowing Malaysia's leader to chip away at an affirmative action program for Malay Muslims that has been considered virtually untouchable in the past.
Soon after taking office in April, Prime Minister Najib Razak scrapped a requirement for 30 percent Malay ownership of companies in certain service industries. This week, he cut the ownership requirement to 12.5 percent for companies that want to list on the stock exchange.
Najib, who is Malay, has also promised to award more government scholarships next year based on academic excellence, rather than racial quotas.
The moves are carefully calculated to avoid angering Malay voters. They touch only ...