If it was former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's intention to shock with his recent statement that Malays are not migrants like the Chinese and Indians, then he has succeeded.
"He should admit that he practices apartheid, not only the whites in South Africa during the time of Nelson Mandela's struggles," Dr Boo Cheng Hau, DAP assemblyman for Skudai, told Malaysia Chronicle.
In his blog, the 85-year old Mahathir threw a cat among the pigeons by insinuating that the non-Malays should not question the supremacy of the Malay community.
In Malaysia, the term Malay is defined by the federal constitution where ethnicities such as Chinese and Indian are based on their country of birth.
"I woulld like to aske Dr M if there is such a thing as 'original ethnic Malay' and what is his source of information if he says such a group exists," PAS MP for Titi Serong Khalil Idham Lim told Malaysia Chronicle.
Ulterior motives
Khalil pointed that of all people, Mahathir should remember his own Indian ancestry before rushing to claim his 'Malayness'.
Indeed "Siapa muda lupa kulit, sekarang" or "Who is now the one who is easily forgetting the colour of his own skin" has been the rebuttal most often thrown back at Mahathir. But it has not in any way stopped him from releasing his torrent of comments that have been lambasted as both racist and racial.
"The Chinese and Indians who are alive now are those who are born and bred here. What is Mahathir talking about when he too has immigrant roots?" PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar told Malaysia Chronicle.
But Mahathir, although he been accused of senility, is far from being inalert despite his age.
There is little doubt among pundits that his comments were meant to shock, to remind Malaysians that he was still around and to further divide the different ehtnic groups by insisting that the Malays were supreme.
Embedding a crutch mentality amongst the Malays
Mahathir warned that non-Malays should not insist that the Malays were like them and immigrants as well.
"Malays are Malays and it is mischievous to suggest that when asked about their race they would say they are Bugis or Javanese. It is only if they are asked where their ancestors came from that they would say Celebes or Java. Otherwise they are just Malays," he said. (Read more at Dr M: Malays are not migrants like the Chinese and Indians)
"If you ask me I would reply that I am a Malay. I would not say I am a Malay or Malaysian of ethnic Indian origin. My mother tongue and home language is Malay, my culture and tradition is Malay and I am a Muslim. The constitution defines a Malay as a person who habitually speaks Malay, practices Malay custom and tradition and is a Muslim."
Pakatan Rakyat leaders also accused Mahathir of irresponsibility. In a another posting last year, Mahathir had actually told the Malays they should not feel shy about receiving 'handicaps' to compete against the Chinese and Indians.
"I am not ashamed to admit that I cannot compete with the Chinese and Indian students when studying medicine. They had much better results than me and the other six Malay students for entry into the Medical College. It is not shameful to lose out against them. Simply to catch up with them we need handicaps. To be given handicaps is to ensure fairness, not discrimination," Mahathir had written.
They said it was his sort of "politics first" attitude that has raised eyebrows and chased forign investors from the country. Never before have the races been as polarized as now under Prime Minister Najib Razak's watch.
The PM has chosen to take a leaf from Mahathir and has dropped his own multi-racial 1Malaysia plan after failing to convince the non-Malays that he was sincere about their welfare. Pundits say that to cling to power npw, Najib will have to rattle the Malay sabre more than ever before.
"As we are born and raised in Malaysia we should have equal rights as citizens. We have a duty to be responsible citizens and it is incumbent upon us to be loyal to this nation. Dr Mahathir's statement is racist and borders on the thinking of an apartheid regime," said Dr Boo.
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