KUALA LUMPUR - Barisan Nasional (BN) on Monday unveiled an election manifesto that centred on education and the rising cost of living, and included measures to encourage diversity and inclusiveness.
Assistance for the bottom 40 per cent of Malaysia’s income earners (B40) was top of the agenda, and comprised free higher education and free laptops for these households.
The manifesto also outlined a new welfare distribution scheme called Assistive Basic Income, which would help households earn at least RM2,208 (S$655) a month and make absolute poverty a thing of the past.
The coalition believes that education is “a powerful weapon in the fight against poverty”, said BN chairman and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when announcing details of the election pledges. He noted that these measures were part of the coalition’s long-term poverty-eradication plan.
“In addition to free higher education for the B40 group... we are offering a flexible study system – 50 per cent on-campus study and 50 per cent online or remotely – which will subsequently reduce the cost by up to half,” Zahid said.
BN also pledged to provide free national childcare services and early education for all children aged six and under, substantially reducing the cost of living for young families, if it wins the Nov 19 polls.
Zeroing in on a gender equality issue that has been raised in Malaysia’s courts, Zahid promised to amend the Constitution to allow Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses to pass on their citizenship to their children who are born overseas. Currently, only Malaysian fathers are allowed to do so.
He said that in the spirit of inclusion, children who are born to mixed marriages or those from different ethnic or religious identities cannot be denied their right to make Malaysia their country of origin.
BN also pledged to establish a Cabinet Committee for Human Dignity (INSANI) to resolve all cases of children born out of wedlock and undocumented children, and uphold their right to education.
As part of the Umno-led alliance’s promise to celebrate diversity and ensure “no one is left behind”, the manifesto also contained measures aimed at ethnic minorities.
These included teaching ethnic languages such as Chinese, Tamil and Kadazan at national schools, in addition to Malay, the current medium of instruction, and English.
“This is to make schools and learning more fun,” Zahid said.
As part of its plan to digitalise the schooling system, Zahid said that BN would do away with school textbooks and conduct learning via laptops.
“For this, BN will give free laptops to all B40 students and ensure that all schools will have 5G Internet access within 18 months,” he said.
Inviting voters to “vote for stability, vote for prosperity”, Zahid said his alliance would form a strong and stable government if it was elected, and that the administration would be made up of people with knowledge, experience and integrity.
