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Blaming other races won't resolve issues faced by Malays, says Dr M

Published:  |  Modified:

Blaming other races would not resolve the issues faced by the Malays, according to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a blog post this morning, he said the Malays should realise that their current situation is due to their reluctance to work unlike others, including foreigners, who throng Malaysia in search of employment.

"The Malays should have realised what has happened to them. But sadly they still haven't. Until today, the Malays still haven't realised. They still don't want to work.

"The Malays continue to leave all the hard work to foreigners, and the foreigners are now flooding our country. Seven million foreigners are here today. They are working.

"What will happen to the Malays? Surely what had happened before this to the country and to the Malays will continue.

"There are those who claim the Malays are the 'tuan' (masters). What masters? Poor, unskilled, and depending on the mercy of others, are they the 'tuan'?" he added.

In his article, the Bersatu chairperson also stated his observation of the different races under British rule.

He said when the British opened rubber plantations and tin mines, only the Chinese and Indians wanted to work in these places.

The Chinese, he added, would be the ones to operate convenience stores and businesses that offered skilled jobs.

Whereas, Mahathir said the Malays only wanted to work on their own paddy fields while a small number became fishermen.

Some of them worked in the government as clerks, while much fewer held important posts in the government then.

"These people were very proud because they received fixed salaries and pension.

"What we could not find were Malays who operated businesses or worked as labourers. The Malays looked down on these jobs.

"Because of this attitude, there were not many Malays who lived in towns. And during that time, towns were built and filled by the Chinese. There were no Malay shops. There were several eateries and spice shops owned by the Indians," he added.

Mahathir said the Malays were happy to see the dangerous, dirty and heavy jobs done by the Chinese and Indians, who were then the foreigners in Tanah Melayu.

He said that from his observation, the Malays were not even worried about seeing the foreigners developing their livelihoods and wealth, because they believed that their state will continue as theirs.

"But their expectation was wrong. Because they were not willing to work hard, not willing to be involved in doing business seriously, they continue to be poor.

"The economic gap between them and the other races who worked hard and operated businesses continue to widen. What happened is that the rich become richer, while the poor Malays continue to be poor," he added.

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