Former deputy premier Musa Hitam said the special position of the Malays has already been eroded by the forces of globalisation and will face further pressures in the coming years.

"I think it has already been eroded. It is a revolution (for there to be) talk of meritocracy. In the old days, once you talk about meritocracy, you are finished, you are in trouble. Now, they debate it," he noted.

In recent years, the government has been under increasing pressure as a member of the World Trade Organisation to give foreign investors equal treatment by removing the bumiputera quotas put into place when the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced.

An example is the replacement of the university admissions quotas with a new merit-based policy last year.

In June, the government also announced new rules which would allow foreign investors 100 percent ownership in manufacturing firms set up in Malaysia. Previously, foreign companies were required to give a 30 percent stake to bumiputera interests.

The NEP was initiated in 1971 aimed at easing racial tensions by setting targets for bumiputera (Malays and other indigenous groups) employment, education, corporate ownership and other quotas.

The policy, which expired in 1992, has since been replaced by the still pro-bumiputra National Development Policy.

Malays need competition

Musa said the time has come for Malays to compete without government assistance as the NEP has been successful in helping the community catch up with other racial groups in the country.

"The Malays need the exposure. They need to be exposed to competition and this is what it is all about. We needed the subsidies to help when the going was not good. Now that the going is good, they have to survive," said the 69-year-old politician in an interview with malaysiakini last week.

Musa, who was one of the key architects of the NEP some 30 years ago, maintained that the affirmative action policy was necessary then to help the Malays participate in the economy.

"It suited that time. We needed it. I will argue the same way... Those days, the Malays were really in the kampung and not interested in development. We had to push them. That's what the NEP is all about," he said.

Asked if the NEP achieved all that its drafters set out to achieve, Musa said, "Yes, definitely. I think it has. There are thousands of Malays who are successful without government patronage."

"There are many Malay contractors all over the world competing and winning contracts. They have international link-ups like any other business venture... I have seen myself a project and I was surprised and proud. They delivered," he added.

As for whether Umno leaders would be able to convince the Malays to give up their special privileges, Musa said efforts have already been made although it has been mainly by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"The prime minister has been saying it again and again. My problem is this: it has all been too PM-centric. Everyone has so much confidence for Dr Mahathir to do it single-handedly...

"I would like to see a wider spread of division of labour. That is going to be the challenge that (incoming prime minister) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will have to face," he said.

Don't blame Suhakam

On another matter, Musa - a former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) - revealed that the government was on the verge of considering greater freedom of expression in the country when events overtook the commission's work.

He said a main aim by the commission then was to secure the government's agreement not to use the Internal Security Act to detain people demonstrating on issues of justice which arose after the arrest of another former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

"We suggested a procedure for having demonstrations. The government nearly did (accept it). There were some signs saying, yes, we are looking into it... But then Sept 11 came. It killed everything," he said.

Musa said, however, he was not disappointed with the lower key approach taken by Suhakam since his departure as chairperson.

"I cannot be disappointed. I am disappointed not so much with them but the events that happened. But as far as other issues are concerned, I do not know. They have not been as forthcoming but it is improper for me to comment or say that I was better than them," he said.

Although the human rights commission was established at his prompting, Musa only served for two years as chairperson. He was replaced in April 2002 by former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman.

The commission had since focused more on advancing economic and social rights for Malaysians, as opposed to the emphasis placed on political and civil rights during its first two years of operation.