KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) began life in 1953 as the Rural Industrial Development Authority (RIDA) to oversee the development of rural areas in the then Malaya.

In 1966, RIDA had a name change to Mara and became a statutory body to oversee the development of the Bumiputra community.

It is a very powerful body, in the sense that the Majlis Amanah Rakyat Act 1966 allows for the council to promote, stimulate, facilitate and undertake economic and social development in Malaysia and more particularly in the rural areas thereof.

While it is more synonymous with the Bumiputra community today, the Mara Act did not specify that the trust is founded only for the enhancement of the Bumiputra community.

Nevertheless, Mara has been instrumental in the development of the Bumiputra professional and industrial community under the New Economic Policy.

Now, 55 years after its official founding, Mara finds itself at a crossroad. Some argue that Mara has lost focus as it becomes bigger, as it ventured into businesses and own commercial investments — areas in which it is said to lack expertise.

However, some argue that the Act itself provides for Mara to get involved in commercial activities, with the approval of the Minister of Rural Development and concurrence from the Minister of Finance.

Regardless, the education and training function is undoubtedly Mara's best effort in developing the Bumiputra community. The billions of ringgit of funds that have been channelled towards the development of education and training institutes under Mara has undoubtedly created a thriving professional and industrial Bumiputra community.

But times are changing, and more talents are needed in the digital sector such as data analysts, coding, and programming technicians. While Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) — which is no longer run by Mara — does offer programmes in the digital field, it might be best if talents in this sector are developed since secondary school.

Given all these challenges Mara is facing — whether it should be in businesses or not, and what role it plays in the digital era through education and training, and maintaining the quality of its education system — some are calling for the trust to be reviewed entirely by the government.

How does Mara go forward and play a role in the development of the Bumiputra community?

In The Edge Malaysia weekly’s second cover story, find out whether the top brass of Malaysia’s listed companies saw their remuneration increase or decrease in what had been a difficult year in 2020.

The story looked at the remuneration packages for the chieftains of the top 50 companies in terms of market capitalisation on Bursa Malaysia for their financial year 2020 in comparison with the previous year.

Read both cover stories in the latest issue of The Edge Malaysia weekly.

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