{"id":1533,"date":"2026-09-01T01:03:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/?p=1533"},"modified":"2026-09-01T04:26:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:26:48","slug":"this-is-what-policy-feels-like-the-transnational-underpinnings-of-the-nep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/?p=1533","title":{"rendered":"This is What Policy Feels Like: The Transnational Underpinnings of the NEP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By William Tham and Brendan Yeo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak giving a briefing on the New Economic Policy to government agencies on 31 July 1975.<\/em>
Source: National Archives of Malaysia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The New Economic Policy (NEP) was the cornerstone of national reconstruction from 1971 to 1990. But the policy\u2019s transnational components remain obscure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the national perspective that emphasises the racialisation of governance, what do the NEP\u2019s transnational aspects tell us about Malaysia\u2019s experience with decolonisation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The \u201cNew Development Strategy\u201d from the Second Malaysia Plan, where the NEP\u2019s overarching aim and two prongs were first publicly articulated.
Source: Second Malaysia Plan, 1971\u201375, p.1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Shaped by the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, Malay nationalism later became central to Ghazali\u2019s account of the NEP\u2019s origins. The 13 May 1969 Incident, alongside growing interracial tensions, further created an urgent need for national reconstruction. In response, the unelected National Operations Council (1969\u201371) sought to restructure Malaysian society through greater state intervention in the economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
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The destruction in the aftermath of the 13 May 1969 Incident along Tengkat Tong Shin.
Source: Berita Harian SG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
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A late 19th century pamphlet of the Fabian Society on \u201cWhy are the Many Poor?\u201d
Source: FOKUS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Malaysia\u2019s second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, was often associated with the NEP and known as its founder. With an aristocratic background and links to the Fabian Society and the British Labour Party, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein was popularly described as sympathetic towards the rural poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tun Abdul Razak wasn’t the only one influenced by Fabian socialism, an ideology that originated from Victorian-era democratic socialist movements advocating for reform rather than revolution. Prominent Malayan figures such as Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore were also influenced by Fabian socialism during postwar decolonisation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The transnational influences did not stop with Tun Razak. The Kerala-born James Puthucheary, who helped found Singapore\u2019s Barisan Sosialis before settling in Kuala Lumpur, had advocated state intervention in the postcolonial economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from that, Harvard\u2019s (liberal capitalist) Malaysia Advisory Group, led by the Norwegian economist Just Faaland, advised the Economic Planning Unit. The Bumiputera Economic Congress even promoted the Meiji-era zaibatsu model starting from the mid-1960s, to encourage state-driven economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another crucial consultant was the Kuala Lumpur-born Professor K.J. Ratnam, who initially lectured at the University of Singapore following the Separation in 1965. In written correspondence with Ghazali Shafie in 1970, he argued the need for a socioeconomic compromise as Malaysia returned to (limited) democracy. He proposed two approaches: poverty eradication for all and affirmative action for the Malays. Through these approaches, Ratnam offered a practical solution for a country which he viewed as deeply divided between communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An extract from the letter from K.J. Ratnam to Ghazali Shafie, written on 25 November 1970, highlighting \u201ctwo distinct policies\u201d that eventually made their way into the NEP.<\/em>
Source: Personal correspondence between K.J. Ratnam and Ghazali Shafie [unpublished]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cold War rivalry between the capitalist and communist blocs also shaped the creation of the NEP. Malaysia still pursued a future as a developmental state despite aligning with the capitalist Euro-American bloc, departing from the liberal democratic model. Across Asian postcolonies, authoritarian governments were actively intervening in order to maintain capitalist systems. At the same time, Tun Abdul Razak further improved diplomatic ties with the People\u2019s Republic of China in 1974. This shows how postcolonial governance in Malaysia took a pragmatic approach that blurred ideological lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the NEP, Malaysia and Singapore went on different national paths. Political rivalry between the two nations had already led to Singapore\u2019s separation from Malaysia in 1965, and the NEP further worsened the rift between the two states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, British consultants from Shankland Cox & Associates planned the Klang Valley around the Kuala Lumpur\u2013Port Klang axis. This gave the Klang Valley greater national importance and, in many ways, replaced Singapore\u2019s earlier role as the main economic and cultural hub of the Malay Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Possible development strategies outlined in the Shankland Cox & Associates Klang Valley
Regional Planning and Development Study.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Built on technocratic governance models, the NEP continued a trend that began with the National Operations Centre. Established in the early post-independence period, the Centre served both as a practical instrument and a diplomatic showcase for foreign heads of state, including the Shah of Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, Malaysia\u2019s perceived success in government-led reconstruction helped inspire post-Apartheid South Africa\u2019s economic reconstruction. Notably, the Black Economic Empowerment programme, launched after Apartheid to promote wider participation of Black South Africans in the economy, took inspiration from the NEP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A transnational reading of the NEP shows that a policy which shaped Malaysia\u2019s political economy was also rooted in a wider global history of decolonisation and the Cold War. The NEP can be viewed as an aspirational national pursuit or a reminder of the difficulties in forging nationhood from a plural society, especially in reimagining the economic bases of Malaysia from 1971 onwards. Ultimately, the exchange of ideas and influences from beyond Malaysia\u2019s borders made this possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pekeliling Flats in the distance.<\/em>
Source: Unidentified.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FURTHER READINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choong, C. W. W. (2024). Anti-colonial raced capitalism in Malaya: Contested logics, gendered repertoires. Review of International Studies, 1\u201320.
Ghazali Shafie. (2002, September 9). \u201cTan Sri Ghazalie Shafiee [sic]: Interview by Tan Sri Dr Kamal Salih\u201d [unpublished, collection of the Malaysia Design Archive].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee, Hwok-Aun. (2022). \u201cMalaysia\u2019s New Economic Policy: Fifty Years of Polarisation and Impasse.\u201d Center for Southeast Asian Studies, II(2), pp. 299\u2013329.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ratnam, K.J. (1970, November 25). [Personal correspondence between KJ Ratnam and Ghazali Shafie] [unpublished, collection of the MDA].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tham, Wai Liang, and Varkkey, Helena. (n.d.). \u201cThe Klang Valley as an infrastructure of Malay(si)an modernization, 1950s\u201370s.\u201d Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography (in-press).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By William Tham and Brendan Yeo The New Economic Policy (NEP) was the cornerstone of national reconstruction from 1971 to 1990. But the policy\u2019s transnational components remain obscure. Beyond the national perspective that emphasises the racialisation of governance, what do the NEP\u2019s transnational aspects tell us about Malaysia\u2019s experience with decolonisation? Shaped by the Japanese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-myunbd"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"smart-post-landscape":false,"smart-post-portrait":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Dennis Ong","author_link":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/?author=5"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By William Tham and Brendan Yeo The New Economic Policy (NEP) was the cornerstone of national reconstruction from 1971 to 1990. But the policy\u2019s transnational components remain obscure. Beyond the national perspective that emphasises the racialisation of governance, what do the NEP\u2019s transnational aspects tell us about Malaysia\u2019s experience with decolonisation? Shaped by the Japanese…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1572,"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagined.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}