Mahathir (left) up to old tricks again?... - Picture by Jack Ooi
Consultant Editor
KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — In what appeared to be a veiled criticism of the prime minister’s economic reforms, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad played the race card in a posting on his blog yesterday by claiming that non-Malays, and particularly the Chinese, were the real masters of the country.
While he did not name the prime minister, Mahathir put up a stout defence of the NEP with well-worn arguments in what appeared to be an expression of concern over the current administration’s economic liberalisation policies.
“Because they (the Malays) are willing to share their country with other races, the race from the older civilisation of more than 4,000 years and who are more successful, as such today whatever they have now is also being taken away from them,” he wrote in what appeared to be a reference to the Chinese community.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced reforms to the capital markets, taking away the 30 per cent Bumiputera requirement, sparking concerns among some Malays that government protection for them was being taken away.
The prime minister also announced recently the setting up of a merit-based scholarship programme in what was seen as an attempt to appease the non-Malay communities who have been complaining of unfair distribution of aid for top students.
But Mahathir argued in his latest blog post that 39 years after the NEP was introduced, the Bumiputera share of the corporate pie remained at just 20 per cent while the Chinese share stood at 50 per cent even though they consisted of just 26 per cent of the population.
“The Bumiputera property holdings are only 15 per cent while the rest are held by non-Bumiputeras because urban property is worth more than rural property.
“Non-Malay leaders who put themselves in the shoes of the Malays, if they are honest, will feel the disappointment of the Malays in seeing nearly all business and industry in the hands of the non-Malays.”
Those who lived in high-end housing estates were mostly non-Malays, he said while claiming that a significant number of Malays lived in squatter houses.
The latest remarks by Dr Mahathir, who still commands significant support among Umno members, could potentially stoke nationalist sentiments against Najib’s reforms.
In defending the NEP, Mahathir is also signalling once again his displeasure with some of Najib’s policy directions.
Last week, Mahathir criticised the government for reversing his policy of teaching science and mathematics in English.
In his latest comments, the fiery former PM said the NEP was not introduced by force, or by seizing assets, but was even amended many times when there were non-Malay objections.
He pointed out, in oft-heard arguments made by Malay nationalists, that the Malays had gave non-Malays voting rights and citizenship during independence.
“At that time the official name for the country was the Federation of Malay States (Semenanjung Tanah Melayu) but when it was joined with Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak it became Malaysia.
“With that, the identity of the Malays in their own country was lost,” he said.
Mahathir anticipated that “with this article I am sure to be branded a racist by the non-Malay racists”.
“But if they are willing to accept the truth they can compare the sacrifices of the Malays who are the original owners of this land with their sacrifices for the interests of the country.”
He argued that the way forward for peace and progress was for the distribution of wealth in the country to be fair even if unequal.
No comments:
Post a Comment