KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes that the "Bangsa Malaysia" dream will only be achieved when the people of this country finally decides to be "truly Malaysians".
He said as long as the people identify themselves in separate entities such as "Malaysian Malays", "Malaysian Chinese" and "Malaysian Indians", racial politics would remain.
The Langkawi member of parliament claimed that Malaysians "don't want to be together", saying they prefer to retain their origin.
"We identify ourselves based on our respective races, we don't speak in the national language at home and we want to retain our identities based on our countries of origin.
"I had proposed for the setting up of Vision Schools back then but it was rejected. Malaysians don't want that one national identity which is why race will remain a barrier for us to get together," he said during an interview with comedian Harith Iskander aired live on his Facebook page.
He said this when asked by the host if racial politics would continue to remain in the country.
During the interview, he was also asked to clarify his controversial statement on the Malays would lose their political powers to other races.
It was pointed out to him that the majority leaders in the country and the ones running the government are Malays.
To this, Dr Mahathir cited results of elections in the country for the past few decades.
"In 1969, I lost the election because the Malay votes were split into two and the ones who determined the winners were the remaining votes, which are from the non-Malays.
"This has been the case for so long. Malays fight among themselves while the non-Malays decide who will win at their respective constituencies."
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/07/708472/dr-m-one-identity-dream-will-come-true-when-we-act-malaysians
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Says Zakar Naik lover and Malay Dignity Congress ring leader!
2021-07-15 13:31