Malaysians not ready to abandon ethnic identities, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad insisted today that Malaysians are not yet ready to discard their ethnic origins by identifying themselves with only their nationality instead of their race.

The former prime minister said this was why Barisan Nasional (BN), as a coalition comprising various race-based parties like Umno, MCA and MIC, was still relevant in the country’s political landscape.

“That day has not arrived yet. Until then, only the BN coalition can represent all races in Malaysia,” he wrote in his blog today.

He was writing in response to BN’s win in the just-concluded Sarawak polls.

Dr Mahathir’s latest assertion will likely reopen the “Malaysian first, Malay next” debacle that erupted in Parliament last year when Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin caused a stir by declaring himself “Malay first”.

Muhyiddin was responding to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang’s challenge to him to prove his support of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept.

Dr Mahathir, however, claimed it was likely that the BN formula of combining race-based parties was responsible for bringing Malaysia years of peace while other nations with the same racial diversity languished with numerous racial and religious clashes.

He pointed out that prior to independence, the various races in Malaysia were deeply divided and antagonistic towards one another, leading to the formation of race-based parties.

“But Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Umno president, together with Tan Siew Sin and V. T. Sambanthan decided that the races could cooperate more effectively if they formed a coalition of racial parties. They felt more secure even if they made up a minority.

“With the ensuing stability, Malaysia was able to develop and prosper. Can anyone deny that?” he said.

Dr Mahathir also cast aspersions on DAP’s claim to be a multiracial party, pointing out that the overwhelming majority if its members, supporters and leaders are Chinese.

“And their struggle is principally against anything Malay and for what they claim to be Chinese rights.

“Their disguise that they are for Malaysians is exactly that — it is a disguise. No one is taken in by their claim to be multiracial,” he chided.

He also rubbished DAP’s “Malaysian Malaysia” concept, claiming it reflected the party’s belief that Malaysia is presently just for the Malays.

“That the Alliance and the BN have representation from all races is ignored. That the parties share power in the Government is also ignored.

“That for 50 years the coalition has brought prosperity to all races, with the Chinese getting the biggest share because of their skills and ability is deliberately disregarded,” he said.

Unlike DAP, said Mahathir, parties like Umno and MCA may be admittedly race-based organisations but contested in elections on BN’s multiracial ticket.

He said that as members of the BN, the parties cannot promote the interests of one race alone as they worked together as a single entity.

“They have coalesced into one political entity and their struggle is for all the races in that entity. The race-based parties working together in the interest of members of all races lose their racial character,” he said.

Only the blind and the bigoted, added Mahathir, would fail to see the success of such a coalition of race-based parties like BN.

Even the opposition, he pointed out, was trying to go the way of BN by forming its own pact.

“But so far they can only co-operate during elections. They now don’t contest against each other. But each party is still racist, concerned only with its own race once the election is over,” he said.