Zam: Mahathir is also of 'keling' descent

Zainuddin Maidin has come out in defence of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad for using the term “keling”, which is considered derogatory to Indians.

In a Twitter posting, the former information minister said that his father was a Malabari and he too was called “anak keling” (son of a keling) during school.

“I never considered this as an insult until it was raised in Parliament and now MIC is using it as fodder for racial politics because Mahathir used the term.

“Mahathir is also of 'keling' descent,” Zainuddin added.

Apart from MIC treasurer-general S Vell Paari, National Human Rights Society (Hakam) chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan also urged Mahathir to stop using the term.

Ambiga argued that while its origins were not derogatory, it is now considered disparaging and hurtful to the Indian community in Malaysia.

Vell Paari, on the other hand, accused the former prime minister of being a racist.

Last Friday, Mahathir, in criticising the Election Commission, had said: “I want to use a 'keling' word. The 'keling' say 'podah' (get lost).”

Quizzed on MIC's criticism, the former prime minister remained unapologetic.

“It's our language (in Kedah) and I've used the word 'keling' since I was small, there is no problem.

"My 'keling' friends have never scolded me. So why is MIC angry over this," he told reporters yesterday.

Previously, when a video of Mahathir uttering the word went viral on social media in 2016, it drew flak from both PKR and DAP.

PKR vice-president Prof Shaharuddin Badaruddin said words which have a negative racial connotation must be discarded and urged Mahathir to reconsider using such terms in future.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said as a former prime minister, Mahathir should know that the term is derogatory.

Although Zainuddin, who is better known as Zam, pointed to Mahathir's Indian roots, the former prime minister is said to be uncomfortable about this issue.

Last August, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi took a dig at Mahathir's ancestry, claiming the veteran politician's identity card (IC) showed he was Indian because his name was stated as Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty.

He also read out the full IC number of Mahathir.

However, Mahathir labelled Zahid a liar and claimed that there was no such IC.

"This is good enough to show that Zahid is a big liar. A big liar because he cannot show the blue-coloured identity card.

“I can still remember the first identity card I received. I was still in university at the time," Mahathir added. -Mkini