Noh Omar questions Selangor's move to abolish Bumiputera discount

The move to abolish the 10 per cent Bumiputera discount for the purchase of service apartment, small office home office (SOHO), and small office virtual office (SOVO) showed the Selangor state government is heeding the concept of Malaysian Malaysia as propounded by DAP.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said DAP had from its inception been known to propagate the concept of equality for all races.

"Whether the prices of houses have been reduced (by abolishing the 10 per cent discount) is between the state government and the developer.

"The question now is what about the Bumiputera rights in Selangor as enshrined in the Federal Constitution? If there are no differences between Bumiputera and other races, it means the concept of Malaysian Malaysia has been implemented in Selangor," he told reporters here today.

The Selangor government had earlier announced the abolition of the 10 per cent discount for Bumiputera for the purchase of the three types of houses effective yesterday (Sept 1).

The move had created uneasiness among Bumiputeras who wanted the state government to reconsider its action.

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, when asked to comment on the call, said the discount of 10 per cent was given to all races for the purchase of the three types of houses due to the high price of the properties.

Noh said unlike the state government, the federal government led by UMNO was always defending the special rights of Bumiputeras and on the matter, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had earlier placed the bumiputera agenda as a national agenda.

"All this while, our policy of defending the bumiputera rights not only involve the Malays but also other bumiputeras in Sarawak and Sabah.

"We hoped the people in Selangor will open their eyes on the action of the Selangor state government which is like doing the bidding of DAP as the party has the most number of members in the state assembly while the menteri besar and Exco members were merely acting like puppets," he said.