The New Economic Policy (NEP) was Malaysia’s first state-driven transformation policy. At the core of the NEP project was the official institutionalisation of Bumiputeraism as an authority-defined identity central to the self-identification of the nation-state.

Contrary to the claim of the NEP in promoting national unity, the Bumiputera identity is one that is fraught with its own ambiguities and contradictions and has arguably contributed to greater social inequalities and underpinned the persistence of “race thinking” in Malaysian public discourse. With the benefit of hindsight, the NEP’s after-effects have been to institutionalise and embed a divisive social cleavage, as it proactively defined who to include and who to exclude within its terms of reference, and thus who to empower or marginalise. Its initial impact was to homogenise some sections of society, even to the point of creating a sense of egalitarianism among those deemed Bumiputeras (those considered “indigenous” or, literally, “sons of the soil”), propelled by its own developmental claims and legitimation processes, and with it rising expectations among those who felt that they were the identifiable beneficiaries. However, as the logic of Bumiputeraism played itself out, so too did the (intended and unintended) consequences of this state-driven identity begin to unfold.

The aim of this paper is to examine the trajectory of policymaking and identity-making in the context of the NEP and its aftermath. It specifically deals with how it has impacted on the identity of indigenous communities, with a focus on those Bumiputera communities, both Orang Asli of peninsular Malaysia and indigenous peoples of Sarawak and Sabah, who have palpably not benefited from the development policies implemented in its name.

This paper will first, examine the context in which the New Economic Policy (1971-1990) emerged and the ‘package’ that came together with it, and show that the NEP’s over- riding objective was very much linked to the national question, namely the building of a united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia. The paper will also assess the NEP’s impact, and ‘measure’ the extent of social cohesion among various ethnic groups. This will be followed with an analysis of the challenges in building Bangsa Malaysia since the end of the 20th century and the first few decades of the 21st century, while the conclusion will present some ideas in moving forward.