'Without Umno, Malays would be more civilised'

Malays would be "more civilised beings" if Umno does not exist.

Former Umno member Zaid Ibrahim delivered this view in a stinging riposte to party president Najib Abdul Razak’s remarks during the annual assembly over the weekend.

Najib had told Malays to reflect on where they would be without the party.

In his blog-post today, Zaid(left) said that, without the party, "Malays would accept the plurality and the diversity of the country".

"The short answer is that the Malays will still be Malays without Umno. There may not be as many instant Malay millionaires and billionaires but under any party in power that practises good and fair policies, the Malays would be all right," he said.

He said that Malays have lost the art of being "hospitable and accommodating" to foreigners and immigrants.

"They (Malays) accepted diversity long before our nationhood came to being. They were able to absorb the best in the qualities of others and that’s why Malay kingdoms were built with success. But these progressive Malay values have now been wiped out," he noted.

Zaid also trained his guns on the Umno assembly in general, calling it an assembly of "demagogues".

"The Umno president can protest and say Umno is not a racist party, but it is. It’s no different from other parties with fascist ideas," he said.

Speeches by delegates over the four-day assembly were "no different" than the tune of extremist parties in France, Greece and Holland.

"Umno delegates, however, are one up from their counterparts in Europe since they are able to demand goodies from the government," he said.

Zaid said that, while the issue of religion had been ramped up, pertinent national issues such as economy and education were not discussed by leaders and delegates.

"Very little was heard about the economy ... There was no discussion of the education issues that have plagued this country for many years now," he said.

"It was the same old Umno, playing cheap and dangerous politics to seed fear amongst the people.”