YOURSAY ‘He is the principal architect of racist Malaysia and father of BTN.’

Mahathir: Little chance for non-racial Malaysia

Vijay47: Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad is absolutely correct when he says that there is little chance for a non-racial Malaysia. He should know.

He was the man who, with his gross abuse of the New Economic Policy and focus on race and religion, ensured that racism was so deeply imbedded as to thrive for generations to come.

Umno's sly thieving schemes supported by traitors like former MCA chief Ling Liong Sik and former MIC chief S Samy Vellu have ensured this. What is even more condemnable is that these policies are even now continued by Umno, MCA and MIC.

Mahathir, the consummate hypocrite who has elevated racial discrimination to exquisite heights, has the cheek to suggest that non-Malays have not honoured the ‘social contract’, inter alia by not adopting Malay names, and are thus responsible for the present sharply divided nation.

And this regret from the patron of Perkasa, a raving bunch of fanatics bent on destroying whatever remains of Malaysia. Sadly, such entrenched attitudes will not pass even after this Malay from Kerala does.

Oh Ya?: I agree fully with him that non-racial Malaysia will not happen during his lifetime because he and the ultras are dividing the races and indeed the whole country by spreading the seeds of racial divide and religion bigotry everyday for fears of losing powers and all the patronage system that have allowed them to steal from the public coffers with impunity.

It will need a major change in the political landscape, especially when racial and religion political parties fail to sell, then only a non-racial Malaysia will emerge. Such an evolution could not happen by forced assimilation.

David Dass: Is Mahathir saying that if non-Malays forget their culture and language everything will be fine?

What about ethnicity and religion? These appear to be the most divisive factors in Malaysia. At every meeting of Umno, the call is 'untuk bangsa dan agama ' (for race and religion). Aren’t these extremists?

Non-Muslims are not going to give up their respective religions. That forms a big part of their culture. Why would anyone want the Chinese and Indians and other minorities to give up their respective languages or culture. What makes an Indian, Indian and a Chinese, Chinese?

Do you not acknowledge the positive attributes of each of the races in the country? Do you not acknowledge the beauty and power of diversity? Do you not see the beauty and colour of the cultural mosaic that is Malaysia?

Does Mahathir really think that camouflaging our ethnicity will make us more Malaysian? The Chinese in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia are a distinct community even as they identify with their respective countries.

Many of the advanced countries of the world - US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand are multiethnic and multicultural. In all these countries, English is the primary language (in Quebec, it is French) but minority languages still flourish.

To a large extent, we have assimilated the respective cultures and cuisine as our own. Listen to our Manglish and see the crowds in Indian restaurants.

Mahathir is placing the blame in the wrong place. I think that we should have a single school system but why have so many of the Chinese opted for Chinese primary schools? Because they are better than government schools.

Go make government schools better. Do not try make us homogenous.

Clearwater: I have to agree with Mahathir. As the principal architect of racist Malaysia and father of BTN (Biro Tatanegara) policies, he should know how Malaysia has turned out.

CQ Muar: Mahathir, you lamented and blamed the minorities for refusing to shed their race-origin identity, therefore Malaysia will never achieve a true Malaysian status. You even quoted countries such as Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia as examples that had successfully attained such success.

Curiously, why then did you stop there without including our closest neighbour, Singapore, which in many ways far outclassed and outdone our country, despite their natural resources handicap, and the fact it's only a tiny 'red dot' on the world map in terms of size?

What is it: hatred, prejudice or simply envy?

Anticonmen: The 1957 constitution is the only social contract there is whereby all Malaysian citizens are guaranteed to be equal and freedom of religion is guaranteed for all.

After instigating May 13, you hijacked and reneged on the constitution. You created your own version of your so-called ‘social contract’ in order to divide and rule, deny equal rights, usurp control, cheat, use religion to control your vote-bank and rob the rakyat's coffers at the expense of the fake call of "agama, bangsa, negara".

You marginalised and sidelined citizens in order to grab wealth and opportunities for yourself and your band of robbers - wealth and opportunities that was supposed to be shared equitably by all citizens. This is your cursed legacy for Malaysia.

Boonpou: The one biggest problem with Mahathir is that, at the end of the day, he thinks he is right. He doesn't have any quality of someone who is critical of himself. There has never been an ounce of self-reflection in this man.

He never questions himself. He thinks he has all the rehearsed answers. It is sad that one day he will be dead and never realise how much he has not learned in this life.

Banzai: I want to ask Mahathir a question - who started all these racial issues if not you?

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