‘Don’t expect others to restore dignity of Malays’
SHAH ALAM: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said only the Malays can restore the dignity of the Malays and that they must stop expecting others to do it for them.
The Prime Minister also said even the government led by a Malay leader could not restore the dignity of the Malays if the Malay people refused to strive for the betterment of the community.
“Don’t ask others to do something to restore our dignity. We, the Malays, are the ones who have to restore the dignity of the Malays,” he said at the Malay Dignity Congress here today.
Dr Mahathir explained that the government could only do as much as providing opportunities for the Malays to participate in various fields in the country in a bid to restore the dignity of the Malays.
However, he said the efforts would be difficult if the Malay people were hesitant to participate and make optimal use of the opportunities made available by the government.
“The (restoration of the) Malay dignity depends on our performance. If we are capable of administering our country well, making optimal use of every opportunity, working very well, producing good consumer products, then nobody can take away our dignity,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said this when addressing the Congress attended by thousands of what he described as the ‘awakened’ Malays, including leaders and representatives of Malay political parties, academia and non-governmental organisations.
In politics, Dr Mahathir said although the Malays made up 60 per cent of the country’s population (of 32 million), the factionalisation of the Malay community had caused them to lose their political power in their own country.
This is because they cannot afford to secure 50 per cent of the people’s support, he said.
Due to the factionalisation, he said the Malays now have to depend on others for support.
In economy, the prime minister said the failure of the Malays to make optimal use of the opportunities made available to them had caused others, including foreigners, to grab the opportunities to build a better future for themselves to the extent of being rich in Malaysia.
“We depend so much on others to the extent of being their slaves. They progressed more than us because of the opportunities that we left untouched and because we are not willing to do certain jobs which are often construed as lowly or demeaning, dangerous and dirty,” he said. – Bernama
