PUTRAJAYA: THE collaboration between residents’ associations, the private sector and non-governmental organisations to promote the unity agenda remains the highlight of Senator P. Waytha Moorthy’s first year as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of national unity and social wellbeing.
The recently-held National Orang Asli Convention 2019, officiated by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, coupled with the rebranded Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) with a RM100 million allocation, are also key highlights.
Waytha Moorthy, during an interview in conjunction with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) one year in government, said numerous initiatives had been carried out since PH took over Putrajaya.
“Before this, the Department of National Unity and Integration was only at the Rukun Tetangga (neighbourhood watch) stage.
“But since then, it has undertaken collaboration with various quarters.
“For example, the activities now involve residents’ associations, whose numbers are similar to those of the neighbourhood watch.
“In addition, we also found that 30 per cent of Malaysians visit shopping complexes on weekends.
“As such, collaboration with retailers like Jusco and Mydin can amplify the unity agenda,” he said.
He said the PH government had taken the initiative to involve minority groups such as the Siamese and Portuguese communities, as well as the people of Sabah and Sarawak so that they were not left out in the country’s unity agenda.
On the National Orang Asli Convention, Waytha Moorthy said this marked a historic turning point for the country.
“At the convention, more than 1,200 Tok Batin (headman) as well as academicians and nongovernmental organisations attended the conference to fulfil Promise 38 of PH’s manifesto, which is to seek the opinions of the Orang Asli on their future and direction.
“A total of 133 resolutions were tabled to the government.
“These will be studied to formulate an Orang Asli development plan in the near future,” he said.
On the rebranding of Mitra, he said among the improvements done were tightening the requirements for associations to receive grants.
“We found that many NGOs applied for government grants from this unit, but there was a lack of transparency on what they were doing to improve the welfare of the Indian community.
“As such, the recipients of the grants will be announced online, so that their identities would be publicly known and their activities monitored in the interest of transparency,” he said.