economic development plan launched by the government of Malaya, and continued by the government of Malaysia (a new nation comprising Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak). This plan followed the First Malayan Five Year Plan, which ran from 1956 to 1960. The Second Malayan Five Year Plan increased expenditure for the development of agriculture and rural areas. Funding was markedly increased for land development schemes, physical infrastructure, and social services. The Plan's stated objective was "to provide facilities and opportunities for the rural population to improve its level of economic and social wellbeing." Some have attributed the greater expenditure of the Plan to the governing Alliance political coalition's political woes; the coalition had only narrowly won the 1959 general elections due to discontent among the rural Malay electorate over the lack of economic progress. While it held the reins of power, the NOC set out the NEP, with the ultimate aim of eradicating poverty and eliminating "the identification of race with economic function" through a "rapidly expanding economy"; the NEP aimed for a Bumiputra share of 30% of the economy within 20 years. The Outline Perspective Plan was also approved, with similar goals to the NEP. Both the NEP and the Outline Perspective Plan were set to expire in 1990, and the Second Malaysia Plan was passed by Parliament to implement the goals of these policies. Economic restructuring The Second Malaysia Plan stepped up government involvement in the economy, with the main goal of increasing Malay economic interests, especially in the areas of manufacturing and mining. To avoid directly hurting Chinese economic interests, the plan focused on huge economic growth, with the goal of expanding both the Malay and non-Malay shares of the economy in absolute terms, while increasing the Malay share in relative terms as well. A sum of M$7.25 billion in total was allocated for the Second Malaysia Plan. Although this constituted a decrease from the First Malaysia Plan's allocation of M$10.5 billion, the Second Malaysia Plan hoped to achieve greater reduction in poverty and increase the involvement of the Malays in the private sector by imposing certain restrictions on private firms that would benefit Malay employment and economic ownership. At the time the plan was announced, the non-Malays had, in the words of one commentator, "a virtual monopoly of private industrial and commercial employment", and were concentrated in the urban areas. However, foreign interests controlled most modern industries,