為了幫助馬來人追上經濟上處於優勢的華人,馬來西亞建國之初推出了肯定性行動。隨著馬來人在現代經濟部門的就業結構與全國族群結構相一致,馬來人與華人之間的經濟差距大大縮小,這有助於馬來西亞社會的穩定,但也導致了馬來人過於依賴政府,沒有完全建立起與他族公平競爭的自信心,不利於族群間的和諧相處及馬來西亞的長遠發展。馬來人和華人在經濟領域的結構性差異得到根本性改善之後,馬來西亞有必要從"爭取族群之間利益分配平等"的觀念逐步轉向"爭取個人之間競爭機會平等"的觀念。

Affirmative actions have been promoted since the founding of Malaysia in order to help the Malays catch up with the rich Chinese. Today because the Malay’s employment in modern economic sectors is almost the same as their proportion in the whole population,the affirmative actions have narrowed the economic gap between the Malays and the Chinese,which helps their social stability on the one hand but creates their more dependence on the government on the other. The affirmative actions have not fully strengthened the Malay’s confidence in competitiveness with other ethnic groups,which will not produce a harmonious relation between the Malays and other ethnic groups and will be no good for the long- term development of Malaysia. With the economic equality between the Malays and the Chinese realized,Malaysia should have a shift of focus from"the equality in sharing interests among different ethnic groups"to"the equality in competitiveness among individuals".