“Drivel-filled Dr M will never end his racially charged polemics”

“Drivel-filled Dr M will never end his racially charged polemics”

By Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy




IT is not that the non-Malays fear Malay parties but they are certainly concerned about Malay parties led by leaders like the former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In anycase, why should non-Malays, particularly the Chinese, fear Malay parties like the mosquito party Parti Pejuang Tanah Air?


With all their candidates losing deposits in the recent Johor state election, Pejuang is in total disarray, let alone be counted by non-Malays. The party is fast fading into oblivion so much in a few years, Malaysians might not even remember its existence!

As for Mahathir, his prognosis of politics is always one-sided; how the Malays have been fair to the non-Malays in the past whereas the latter have not been appreciative of the former. He claims that concessions not even granted to the Chinese by the British colonial power were granted by Malay Governments post-Independence.

Such myopic argument pays little attention to the role the non-Malays played to the development of the country over the decades. It is not so much about the generosity of Malay governments but the recognition that Chinese and Indians are citizens of the country with immense contribution to their credit.

The first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman was somebody liked by the non-Malays for being a fair and level-headed person. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about other prime ministers who came to power based on a racial agenda.


During Mahathir’s first tenure as prime minister, the warm relations between the different ethnic communities were impaired permanently. His administration actively and aggressively promoted the Malay agenda enshrined in the New Economic Policy (NEP), or infamously called the Never Ending Policy.

In his 22-years holding the office, Mahathir did more damage to the country than any other prime ministers. Yes, he was fair to the Chinese but only to his super rich cronies. Similarly, he was generous to those Malays, not all but those who had powerful connections within UMNO.

The Malaysian Indian community suffered most under his administration. Even until today, they have not forgotten how Mahathir had marginalised them to the extent that they have been economically and politically disabled.

What is the point of talking about Malay governments being fair to non-Malays when the opposite is true? Mahathir also deliberately and viciously undermined the Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) government to the extent it collapsed, even though he himself was leading the coalition!

Remember the Malay Dignity Congress?

And was he fair to the non-Malays when they were mercilessly lambasted as “pendatang” in the Malay Dignity Conference?

Mahathir should be the last person in the country to talk about the welfare and well-being of the non-Malays in the country. Perhaps he should be talking about how he systematically undermined them politically, economically and psychologically.

It is sad that his followers in Pejuang are being misled by the whims and fancies of Mahathir, the prime architect of Malaysia’s failure as multi-racial country.

And I think Malaysian should no longer listen to his nonsense. — March 27, 2022




Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also deputy chief minister II of Penang.