"And I have met with the Chinese who bought that land, the person was boasting how he acquired the land for RM4 billion, and it now belongs to him forever."
– Former prime minister (twice) Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Whenever I read anything that the old maverick says, I always wonder who former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad disdain more, the Chinese or the Malays?
And do not for one moment think that only gullible Malays would fall for his twisted logic.
Mahathir had Pakatan Harapan and its supporters eating out of his cold hands before and after the election that swept them into power and even when he was scheming and destroying Harapan from within, pusillanimous Harapan operatives were seeing and hearing no evil.
As someone who endorsed the old maverick and had to make my public mea culpa soon after he took power, his recent tirades against the royal institution, the Chinese, and hooking up with PAS is just further evidence of the downward spiral of this country.
The deep Islamic state and their proxies are merely using him to further their theocratic agenda and so blinding is his hatred for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that he is willing to derail this country out of spite.
Mahathir has always demonstrated contempt for the Malays. What else would you call the emotions that fuel his polemics?
He has claimed that the Malays are lazy and ignorant, and have failed to rise to the occasion despite all the privileges afforded to them. He has admitted that he failed to change them.
Of course, he fails to mention his failed policies when it comes to the majority polity and his willing creation of a kakistocracy.
He fails to mention the decades when he was in power he used the religion of the state to curtail the Malay community all the while having cronies from the Chinese plutocrat class, sustaining the gravy train through which Umno fed from.
Meanwhile, he has never failed to blame the Chinese community for everything. He blames them for their economic success and the failure of his policies. He blames them for stealing Malay land when the system he created and fed from, sold them tanah Melayu.
He blames them for causing a split in the Malay community when the reality is that the rampant corruption and the religious industrial complex (which he created) have polarised the Malay polity.
The former prime minister has always described the Chinese community in Manichean terms, especially when it comes to their place under the Malaysian sun. In another congress, this one an Umno one in 2002, he said:
“If we take out the Chinese and all that they have built and own, there will be no small or big towns in Malaysia, there will be no business and industry, there will be no funds for the subsidies, support, and facilities for the Malays. Learn from the Chinese.”
Around the same time, in an interview, Mahathir acknowledged: “The Chinese in Malaysia have no special rights, they experience discrimination. But they are more successful than us.”
Who made them afraid?
What does this tell us? It tells us that the former prime minister has no problem reminding the Malay community that their privilege and entitlements rest on a community - the Chinese - who are discriminated against, thereby setting up a narrative of resentment and self-aggrandisement when it comes to the state-created racial role in this country.
And therein lies the rub. Whoever the Chinese are, be it local or foreign, by Mahathir's words, if the Chinese weren’t around they would be no business or industry.
Mahathir has acknowledged that the Malays “… are so afraid of other communities. Without the experience of competing with others, if the protection (new economic policy) is suddenly withdrawn, they will not be able to survive.”
And yet who made them afraid? Well, his son Mukhriz has the answer. He admitted that whenever they could not deal with issues facing the country or the Malay community, Umno (meaning the entire Malay establishment) demonised the DAP and the Chinese community.
Mukhriz said: “Looking at Umno, when there were big issues which we could not address, we would talk about DAP, Chinese chauvinism, and how Lim Kit Siang becoming prime minister would destroy Malaysia, that the Malays would disappear, and the mosques can no longer air the azan.
“I admit that I too have said such things, in front of a 100 percent Malay audience. Thinking back, I feel guilty and a sense of regret.”
And we know what Mahathir thinks of poor people. Keep in mind, he has said that Malays are lazy, ignorant, and backward.
And what does he say about these poor, backward people, telling them on the one hand to learn from the Chinese and on the other that they are to blame for all their problems?
Well, Mahathir also reminds them not to be envious. In 2020, he said: “There are those among us who feel envious that they are wealthy, particularly if we have contributed to their wealth. But this envy must be suppressed and not allowed to influence us.
“Why are they poor? Because they are unproductive and do not contribute to society in a way where society would repay them.”
And do not for one moment think any of this is solely the fault of the Malay political operatives. Remember that train wreck of an interview Mahathir gave Malaysiakini where he admitted that Harapan gave more to the Malay community but could not admit it while the non-Malay political operatives went along with this?
“We still have to give them, but what we gave to them was very small (compared to what the Malays got). But we could not say it then, because then the Chinese would be angry.”
So, who does Mahathir disdain more? The community that he claims he wants to protect because they are lazy, ignorant, and dependent on the Chinese for their entitlements or the Chinese community, without which the Malay political establishment would not be able to sustain Malay entitlement programmes and demonise when they need to galvanise the Malays?
For the ketuanan types, the Malays can’t live with the Chinese community but can't live without them. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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