"No, I'm not an Indian. I'm a Malay because I do not know the Indian language, and that was a long, long time ago.”

"I'm now 100 percent a Malay, I speak Malay and practise Malay customs and traditions.”

COMMENT | Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest and most provocative media appearance on Thanthi TV, a news channel in Chennai has produced a firestorm of fierce criticism.

Leaders of the Indian community, the main target of his interview comments, took strong exception to his allegation that Malaysian Indians were not completely loyal to the country as they were still inexorably tied to their country of origin.

Perhaps the kindest response came from MIC president SA Vigneswaran...