FMT:
Is Dr M’s Bangsa Malaysia only available in Sabah and Sarawak?
The former prime minister also had a similar racial makeup in his past cabinets, so what’s wrong with the current Cabinet?
From Clement Stanley
On June 5, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched a secretariat committee as a “big umbrella” to “save the Malays” by addressing issues affecting the community.
So much for the “Bangsa Malaysia” policy he once introduced during his first stint as prime minister.
While Mahathir may have forgotten the said concept, East Malaysia hasn’t.
Sabah and Sarawak are already practising an all encompassing people-led government that continues to focus on the eradication of poverty and better infrastructure development for everybody regardless of race and religion.
In Sabah and Sarawak, the state leaders do not put emphasis on a single race. That is why our state governments are made up of people of all races.
This is also why Mahathir’s successors have espoused slogans such as 1Malaysia or Keluarga Malaysia, because they too saw the importance of unity in this nation that is made up of people of different races. They, too, saw the need for a “Bangsa Malaysia”.
Still, Mahathir’s new initiative begs us to question if he is implying that the current government is a non-Malay led government? A quick check will show otherwise.
Mahathir had more or less a similar lineup in terms of the racial makeup of his Cabinets. So, what’s wrong with this one?
He oddly laments about there being many groups trying to unite the Malays, but also warns that “if there are too many, we end up split”.
Mahathir seems to think his new group is in no way an addition of yet another cook to an already crowded kitchen. Lest we forget, he had set up other Malay-based parties after quitting Umno.
So, maybe, having too many groups isn’t the problem. Maybe, just maybe, Mahathir wants to be the only head chef in this kitchen.
Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.
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