The Bumiputera Economic Congress secretariat on education reform and human capital said such inclinations were “worrying”, adding that any programme implemented to help develop the community would fail if the indifference persisted.

“The main problem when it came to education among the Malays was apathy,” the secretariat’s deputy chairman, Anuar Ahmad, said in a statement today.

Anuar said the secretariat had identified the problem after interviewing some 8,600 Malay respondents from West Malaysia.

He said other factors that led to the community lagging behind in terms of education included poverty as well as the disinterest in science and mathematics.

“The lack of support by family members also contributed to this indifference among a huge segment of Malays when it came to education,” he said.

However, he said not all Malays displayed such apathy towards education, highlighting some 24 respondents who made it overseas.

“They told us that to succeed overseas, the first thing they did was to change their attitude and work hard,” he said.

Some of these successful Malays got jobs in Silicon Valley or worked as engineers with some of the renowned car makers in the US.

There were also those working in Japan and Australia in the medical sector as well as engineers in Dubai.

“They all agreed that for Malays to progress they need to get rid of such apathy and study hard.

“They said Malays should not depend on assistance, but should take the initiative,” he said.