KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed (pix) said it hurts him when the gathering of the Malays is being accused as being racist, while the other ethnic groups can have their gatherings to discuss their affairs.
The Prime Minister said he attended the Kongres Maruah Melayu (Congress of Malay Dignity) in Shah Alam, Selang or on Oct 6, because he is a Malay.
“It hurts me to think in their own country the indigenous people are not supposed to have their own gatherings without being accused of being racist,” he said in his blog http://chedet.cc/ today.
The Prime minister said that he was very surprised when he was advised not to attend the Malay Congress to discuss their dignity.
“Obviously they are concerned over their possible loss of dignity, whatever that might mean. As usual there were extreme views, but on the whole they were balanced,“ he said of the gathering attended by thousands including leaders and representatives of Malay political parties, academia and non-governmental organisations
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Mahathir said: “It cannot be that while other ethnic groups can have their gatherings to discuss their affairs, the Malays cannot, that their gathering is racist.
“And now there is even a demand that the Malay initiator of the gathering should be sacked for attending.”
He said it is a measure of the tolerance of the indigenous people in Malaysia that gatherings which are confined to the different ethnic groups are accepted as normal.
In multiracial Malaysia, ethnicity is recognised as legitimate and proper, and the non-indigenous people were accepted as citizens.
“In fact, one million of the non-indigenous people were given citizenship even though they were not qualified,” and it is common for Malaysian citizens to retain their identification with their countries of origin even after being in the country, and holding its citizenship for three generations.
“They do not want to lose their racial identities. They even manifest this ethnic link through their language, culture, schools and ethnic organisations. They often hold meetings confined to their ethnic group. Sometimes I would be invited to open these meetings and asked to give keynote speeches,“ said Mahathir.
“Other multiracial countries see non-indigenous people identifying themselves with the indigenous citizens almost completely. They adopt the language and culture of the indigenous people and break their link with their countries of origin. They even change their names.” he said.
Mahathir said when the former colonies of the European nations gained independence, many discriminated against the non-Indigenous people with some having to leave the country, while others were violently attacked. “ Not so in this country,” he said, and added “And now of course I will be labelled a racist for writing this,” he ended. — Bernama
