Newly-formed 'Malay Shield' meets this Sunday

Describing the formation of Majlis Perundingan Melayu (MPM) last Saturday at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman as highly successful, Perkasa chairman and group spokesperson Ibrahim Ali spoke to Malaysiakini on the next moves of the umbrella body for Malay NGOs.

"At the launch, we decided to hold our first meeting this Sunday at the Matrade building from 8.40am to 11.am," said Ibrahim (left).

He said that the meeting would finalise the nitty-gritty for the group. This would include its membership directory, official charter, procedures and methods of meetings, permanent secretariat, new memberships and sources of funding,

The meeting will also discuss setting up MPM chapters in Sabah and Sarawak as well as matters arising.

"After the meeting, we will have a roundtable discussion on the proposals about the New Economic Model (NEM) that Prime Minster Najib Abdul Razak will present at the end of this month or early next month."

He said that the results of this discussion would then be sent to the premier for his consideration, prior to the NEM being announced.

Policy paper

A policy paper prepared by Pahang Perkasa head Zubir Harun titled 'A Microeconomic Framework' will also be presented as a guideline for the discussion.

The roundtable session will be followed up with four smaller workshops to discuss the following issues:

• finance and government linked companies

• Islamic institutions (Waqaf, Baitulmal, Zakat)

• human capital and training

• high-value sectors (bio-technology, ICT, supply chain manufacturing)

The one-day event will then be wrapped up with a plenary session to table the findings of the roundtable and various workshops, said Ibrahim.

'Closed to the media'

"The sessions will be closed to the media," said Ibrahim.

This, he said, is to avoid sensitive issues from arising because of misunderstandings or selective reporting.

"We are not hiding anything," he asserted. However participants might express opinions without basis, facts, or proof or bring up sensitive issues during the discussion.

"These shouldn't be reported to avoid confusion. Not all media is responsible, some will be selective in reporting. You scoop what you want to scoop out of the whole and create havoc."

Ibrahim however said there would be a press conference after the meeting to reveal its results.

courtesy of Malaysiakini