Mahathir, Father Of All Racists

By Andrew Gomez

“(Tun Dr Mahathir) is the father of all racists.” – Dato’ Seri Nazri Aziz, Minister Of Tourism & Culture.

Before he passed away in 2008, my late father had on many occasions said the following to me: “Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Malaysians were all happy, the way Bapa Malaysia intended and wanted them to be. And we were. Nobody cared anything about race or religion. Then Mahathir showed up and made life miserable for everyone. Do you know, Mahathir was one of the instigators of the May 13, 1969 race riots?”

For me personally, it’s not easy to unearth the truth about these past events. In May, 1969, I was not even born yet. Talking about May Thirteen in Malaysia is also somewhat taboo. The problem with that, though, is how then can we learn from mistakes made in the past so that we can prevent them from occurring again in the future? Remember that history often, if not always, repeats itself.

What I can do, however, is to reflect on Mahathir’s racist views by recollecting some of his most famous quotes. These include:

• “Indians never say thank you. Chinese always say thank you.”
• “Malays are lazy and stupid.”
• “Jews have hooked noses.”
• “Jews rule the world by proxy.”
• “Chinese are like the Jews.”
• (Malays should) “Be more like Chinese”
• “Melayu mudah lupa” (Fun fact: This writer isn’t Malay)
• “Kalau dah pencen, pencenlah.”

I’m not 100% sure about the last one. Hopefully someone can correct me if that wasn’t one of Dr Mahathir’s delightful nuggets of “wisdom”.

Recently HRH The Sultan of Selangor expressed his displeasure over Mahathir’s ‘Bugis’ remarks which were deemed racist. Now, being related to Douglas Gomez (the late Johor hockey coach), I have never since then held either high affection or great respect for any Malaysian Royalty. I do however believe HRH Sultan of Selangor is completely correct and accurate in his stance. I salute his frank forthrightness.

Additionally, PM Najib Razak recently said: “Rejecting FDI, for ill-informed and sometimes frankly racist reasons, would only lead to the impoverishment of Malaysians and the erosion of our competitive edge.” Though he did not name any specific names, is there really any doubt as to whom he was referring to?

The questions that now require answers are:

• Was Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz correct when he referred to Mahathir as Father Of All Racists ?
• If he was correct, then what exactly was the nature of Mahathir’s involvement, if any, in the May 13, 1969 race riots that have so deeply scarred the Malaysian psyche?

If you agree that it is high time that Malaysians get the whole, absolute truth and answers to the above questions, then please share this on your social media and seek the views of your own friends, family or loved ones. If enough of us demand it, there’s a chance we may finally know the truth about these important matters.

Or do we not deserve to know the truth after all this time?