"After selling and getting the cash, they come back to ask for more."

– Former two-time prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the Malay polity.

COMMENT | Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal's public statement about identity politics in Malaysia is the usual statement made by the Malay uber alles crowd to rile up a specific section of the Pakatan Harapan base but does nothing to reshape Harapan’s political discourse.

While Ahmad Fayhsal (above) may claim he rejects the Malay feudal mentality and is merely stating a political truism, the reality is that the Malaysian political system and bureaucracy actively sustains such a mentality because it is the easiest way to sustain political power.

Parties like Umno, Bersatu, Pejuang, and PAS are Malay supremacist parties whose political currency is racism.

We also need to understand the supposed non-race-based and supposedly multiracial parties of Malaysia actually attempt to use the same currency to gain political power.