Kuching: DAP Sarawak Chairman Chong Chieng Jen has warned Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg against introducing a 30% Bumiputera quota for major state government projects, saying the policy risks turning Sarawak into “a second West Malaysia” within 20 years.
Chong said Abang Johari’s announcement on 3 September 2026 that 30% of Sarawak Government’s major projects would be allocated to Bumiputera contractors came as a “big disappointment”, especially after the Premier had claimed just a month earlier that Sarawak practised meritocracy.
“Abang Jo should not follow the footsteps of UMNO in West Malaysia and implement a similar racially discriminatory policy in Sarawak,” Chong said in a statement.
He warned that once introduced, a 30% Bumiputera entitlement policy would be difficult to reverse and could eventually spread into other areas.
“Such 30% Bumi entitlement policy, once started, can never be stopped and will feed and grow upon itself in every field and sector, be it government construction contracts, education places, job opportunities, and all other government procurement processes and other sectors of the economy,” he said.
Chong pointed to Malaysia’s decades-long experience with similar policies, warning that they could result in the rich Bumiputera becoming “super-rich” while ordinary Bumiputera without political connections remained poor.
He also cited the risks of a severely polarised society, an exodus of talent, declining productivity and competitiveness, and the eventual expansion of the quota into more sectors.
Chong said Sarawak’s multicultural, multiracial, multilingual, and multireligious character should be protected rather than undermined by race-based policies.
“If we truly love and treasure the harmony of multicultural, multiracial, multilingual, and multireligious character of Sarawak and the unity of Sarawakians, the GPS should never start such a racially discriminatory policy in the first place,” he said.
He called on Abang Johari not to commence such a racially discriminatory policy, warning: “We cannot afford its effect in the long run.”
