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Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has again reached for the race card.
In a recent posting on Facebook, the elder statesman said the nation is in danger because the poor and the rich are linked by race.
Dr Mahathir said many of the poor are made up of Malays, and the rich are made up of Chinese, and the two races are not close in their relationship.
Racist feelings are not liked by intellectuals. But the fact is that this feeling exists in all races in Malaysia. There is a possibility of inter-racial riots.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the racial divide in Malaysia.
He said some feel such matters should not be voiced as it can hurt the feelings of the races.
The Langkawi MP also insisted that it would be better if the disparity were curbed early, or it would be harder to fix.
Affirmative Action Not A Complete Failure
Dr Mahathir acknowledged that the New Economic Policy (NEP) is said to have failed.
But in the education field, it reduced the distance between races, he said.
In the economic field, the weaknesses of DEB (NEP) have been identified. Corrections have also been made. With this, DEB will achieve better success.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on social re-engineering and affirmative action program in the country.
The NEP declared national unity as its overarching goal and established its ‘two-pronged’ core objectives of poverty eradication irrespective of race.
NEP also aimed to accelerate social restructuring to reduce and eliminate race identification with economic function.
The original NEP was introduced by the late former prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in 1971.
Poverty Knows No Age, Race, Or Gender
Meanwhile, netizens expressed disappointment with Dr Mahathir for reigniting the hateful politics of rich Chinese vs poor Malays.
Some pointed out that the former prime minister should take the blame as he had many years to put things right but failed miserably. (He held office from July 1981 to October 2003 and later from May 2018 to March 2020 for 24 years, making him the country’s longest-serving prime minister.)
They said Dr Mahathir and other politicians should stop manipulating ordinary Malays
The people need a better education policy and good jobs, not handouts.
Penat doe baca hari-hari Melayu miskin, Cina kaya. I can name you at least 10 poor Chinese families I helped during my Kechara days. I can name 20 more family Melayu kaya raya I met in my lifetime. -,,- https://t.co/W2YUZrJmP2
— Muzakkir Syah (@muzakkirsyah) August 6, 2022
Some said the income disparity between races continues to exist because Malaysian political parties are highly corrupted.
They opined that the government’s efforts in the fight against corruption are ineffective.
Dr.M kata Melayu yg miskin sekali, Cina yg semua kaya, tapi kontrak defence ministry 90peratus bekas puak defence, siapa yg dpt manis, Dr.M ni mmg kuat spinner demi kuasa, asiy nak usik isu kaum.
— TB (@tbfoong) August 6, 2022
At the same time, some said Tun Dr Mahathir thinks all Chinese are wealthy because rich friends from the community are close to him.
🔹 Berjaya Assets Bhd, Berjaya Corporation Bhd, Berjaya Food Bhd, Berjaya Land Bhd, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd – dimiliki oleh Tan Sri Dato Seri Vincent Tan yang mempunyai hubungan baik dengan Tun Mahathir.
🔹 Bermaz Auto Bhd – pemegang saham utama ialah Tan Sri Dato Vincent Tan. pic.twitter.com/iVuG1DMEzy
— Mohd Ameruddin Ahmat (MSTA,CFTe) (@AmerAhmat94) April 9, 2022
Some said the Malays who remain poor are because their people are taking advantage of them.
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