Disunity Will Continue To Weaken Malays, Says Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 (Bernama) -- The Malays will remain weak and their future dim if they continue to be divided merely due to different political ideologies, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said the Malay community was seen as being in a weak position because they were now divided into three groups, namely Umno, PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), causing their future development agenda difficult to be implemented although the government was under Malay leadership.

"The present situation will inevitably affect our future," he said at a "Discourse with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the Malays and Their Future" at the Tun Hussein Onn Memorial, here Tuesday.

The discourse, organised by the Federal Territory chapter of the Former Elected Representatives Association of Malaysia (Mubarak), was also attended by FT Mubarak chief Abdul Aziz Yassin, its secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Sulaiman and Malaysia's ambassador to the Philippines, Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad, as the moderator.

Dr Mahathir said Malay unity was challenged the first time when there was discord which saw the setting up PAS, a breakaway group from Umno.

"However, we could still control the political situation in the country then, but as we all know, many (from Umno) who were disappointed later formed other splinter parties like Semangat 46 and PKR.

"When we were poor and weak and had no status, we knew that only unity could give us strength. But today, when we are better off, some feel there is no need for unity; so we end up fighting among ourselves."

The former premier said there were also Malays who were so confident of being able to stand on their own to the extent of rejecting the government's efforts such as the New Economic Policy which were created to assist them.

"There are those who say there's no need to be identified with the Malays, that 'we are Malaysians, we can reject efforts to help us, we want to throw away the crutch and we want to stand on our own', without realising that they are still 'limping'," he said.

Dr Mahathir said sadder still was that some Malays kept asking for the support of the other races in this regard to the extent of being willing to give up everything without thinking of the consequences.

He also believed that Malaysia would be safe from foreign invasion if the people could really understand and accept the concept of 1Malaysia or One Nation promoted by the government.

On the issue of Malay supremacy, Dr Mahathir cynically said the Malays needed not continue claiming that they were the "masters", when in fact they were the "servants" of others.

He said the famous saying, "Takkan Melayu hilang di dunia' (Never will Malays vanish from the earth) should be re-evaluated to determine which kind of Malays they did not want to lose; Malays who were strong, rich, knowledgeable, efficient in business and management, and the likes.

To a question on how to unite the Malays who had divided into three factions, Dr Mahathir said: "It's easy, knock Nik Aziz (Kelantan Menteri Besar) and Anwar (PKR de facto leader) on their heads because they are the ones who brought the disease".

Dr Mahathir also described the efforts to unite the Malays as coming to a dead end as the two leaders had no desire to see it happen.

"Their intentions are just secure a place, Anwar with his intention to capture Putrajaya while Nik Aziz is an opportunist. They have no intention to serve for the sake of the religion, people and country. That is why it is so difficult to make up with them," he said.

As faith in Umno was shaky and the Malays having a difficult time to choose a party that could be trusted, Dr Mahathir also described the Malays as being in a state of "Malay Dilemma 2".

-- BERNAMA