Government must give full details of K-economy Master Plan Drafting Committee and process if it is going to involve the fullest national consultation and brainstorming 

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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang 

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He said the "K" or Knowledge Economy Master Plan would be "for the entire nation and for every citizen"  and would not be drafted by the best brains behind closed doors because it must be relevant to Malaysians and become a personal master plan for all.

He said "the whole process of national consultation, brainstorming, drafting and national mobilisation should be completed within 18 months from this day" and that the formulation of the K-economy Master Plan would  "not be  an elitist process but one involving everyone from the teacher to his  pupil, to his fisherman father, to the mechanic, to the secretary, janitor and the chairman of the board."

A week had passed since Mahathir’s announcement of "the whole process of national consultation, brainstorming, drafting and national mobilisation" starting from that day, but the government has not given any information as to how every Malaysian could be involved in the formulation to make the K-economy master plan a plan of every Malaysian!

In fact, Malaysians do not even know who is on the committee responsible for drafting the K-economy Master Plan and Parliament, despite the end of two general policy debates on the Royal Address and the second reading of the retabled 2000 Budget, has been kept completely in the dark as to who had  been appointed to the K-economy Master Plan Drafting Committee and how the Malaysian public could be involved in "the whole process of national consultation, brainstorming, drafting and national mobilisation" for the K-economy master plan.

DAP supports the government drafting a national K-economy master plan to create a knowledge-driven economy but no such master plan can succeed unless Malaysia first develops a K-Government and a K-Parliament, which should be given topmost  priority.

The first thing the government should do is to inform Malaysians how they could be involved in "the whole process of national consultation, brainstorming, drafting and national mobilisation" for the formulation of the K-economy master plan by making public three matters:
 

• The composition of the K-economy Master Plan Drafting Committee and its terms of reference;
• How Malaysians could be involved in its work; and
• The ground covered by the K-economy Master Plan Drafting Committee in the past five months since the Finance Minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin announced its formation when he first presented the 2000 Budget in Parliament on October 29, 1999.