Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s hand-picked advisers have recommended changes to Malaysia’s Bumiputra policy, a set of affirmative actions aimed to lift the social welfare of the majority-ethnic Malays, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Launched in 1971 as the New Economic Policy (NEP), this set of programs sought to increase economic and educational opportunities for the ethnic Malay majority, but the goal somehow changed to promoting Malay supremacy in all aspects of Malaysian life, writes James Chin for Free Malaysia Today. Shortly after the stunning election win of Pakatan Harapan in May, Mahathir said that all rights and privileges accorded to the Malays as part of the Bumiputra community would be protected under his government.