Dr M takes a swipe at ‘ungrateful’ Malays, warns of fate under PR rule

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 ― Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called the Malays “ungrateful” and “lacking intelligence”, warning that the greed of a few power-hungry Malays in the opposition would see the country’s dominant race lose its political power. 

“If any of these Malay (oppositon) parties win the elections and forms the government, this government would have to follow the dictates of other (races). 

“The Malays will no longer hold dominance in the government that they were so willing to share with others,” he said in a special column titled “Suara Hati Mahathir” published inMingguan Malaysia today, the weekend edition of Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia.  

In his lengthy tirade against the Malays, the former prime minister expressed sadness that the Malays were now purportedly split into three factions and said that this has resulted in them “begging” for support from the other races. 

“It has forced them to beg for support... even from those who have all this time been fighting against efforts to uplift the positions of the Malays and make them equal to the others. 

“But this support is not given for free,” he warned. 

“Who brought on this disaster? No other than the Malays themselves ― greedy Malays, Malays lacking in intelligence, Malays easily influenced by lust, easily dominated by hatred when agitated,” he continued in typical no-holds-barred fashion. 

Dr Mahathir (picture) took pains to remind the Malays of their colonised past in the decades before independence, detailing horror stories of how the British had called them lazy and stupid, enslaving them in their own country. 

He said the Malays were only allowed to take on menial labour jobs and were made into drivers and orderlies or clerks and office-boys at most. 

“There were assumed to be incapable of holding any responsibility. The Chinese and the Indians were even brought into the country to solve this problem of the Malays being stupid and incompetent,” the veteran politician recalled. 

When the Japanese arrived, Dr Mahathir said the Malays even lost their lowly office jobs and were forced to become petty roadside traders selling goods like bananas. 

If they failed to bow their heads low when walking by a Japanese soldier, they would be forced to balance large chunks of rocks on their heads and shoulders until they would collapse from dizziness, he said. 

“They would be ordered to climb tall coconut trees to get the fruits for these Japanese soldiers. If they failed, they would be slapped and would have to crouch to seek forgiveness,” Dr Mahathir continued.

He said the country’s largest ethnic group had forgotten the suffering of their forefathers and the struggle to achieve independence in 1957 after so many decades of colonisation.

He said they had forgotten how their daring Malay forefathers, the few who had the privilege of education during the British rule, had risen against the Malayan Union, finally returning autonomy over Malaya to its rightful sons.

Dr Mahathir added that in the years that followed, these Malays had proven their mettle and had governed well, despite predictions that the country’s racial and religious diversity would only lead to anarchy.

“Unfortunately, this little bit of success made them (Malays) conceited and greedy. They began to fight for power and this tussle, caused by the greed of a few individuals, has caused the ruling party to be fragmented.

“Those who were disappointed as they had failed to score posts for themselves, urged other rebellious leaders to join them and help them achieve their narrow-minded fight for power, particularly to become the prime minister,” the former premier said, likely referring to his former deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is now leading the federal opposition.

“For this, they lie, they misinterpret religious rules, they support those who despite seeing the Malays achieving even just a little bit of wealth and position,” he added.

Racial and religious issues have often been identified as Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) Achilles’ heel, and blamed for the unending dispute between Islamist PAS and secular DAP.

PR’s political foes in Barisan Nasional (BN) has been fully capitalising on this, with leaders from Umno warning the Malays that they would lose political power under PR while MCA has been warning the Chinese that the pact would implement the Islamic hudud law should it win the coming polls.

Adding to this, Dr Mahathir said he was disappointed and saddened by members of his own race whom he said were willing to sacrifice their identities and unity for the sake of political power, which would only be eroded if they continued to remain fractured.

“Do not feel sad or sympathise with me. Sympathise with yourselves, your grandchildren who will face a dark future simple because of our greed and our hatred towards our own race and government,” he told the Malays.