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Chinese 'rejected Malay hand of friendship'
The Chinese Malaysian community "rejected the hand of friendship" extended by the Malays when they voted in large numbers for Pakatan Rakyat in Sunday's general election.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this today at a special press conference in Putrajaya to assess BN's performance in the 13th polls.
Mahathir said the Chinese community has been taken in by DAP's "propaganda" to topple a "corrupt Malay" government.
He also rejected the notion that the voting trend reflects the urban-rural divide in politics.
"Now urban extends to suburban areas as well. As a result, even Selangor has become a Chinese-majority state," he said.
Mahathir repeated his stance that the DAP's campaign was to make the Chinese community hate the Malay community.
"I have said this several times in my campaign, even in Johor. Lim Kit Siang brought about the concept of Malaysian Malaysia, with the intention of making the Chinese hate the Malays,” he said.
“As a result, many Chinese rejected the Malay hand of friendship."
‘Greedy Malays to blame, too’
But Mahathir said he could not discount the "greedy Malays" who are jostling for power.
"These are ones who can sell their own kind for power. There are three Malay-based parties, and there are cracks in every party, even in Umno," he said.
Mahathir then went on to say that the Malays have become "beggars in their own country".
"If Malays are not greedy, there would not be a ‘Chinese tsunami’," he insisted.
He also noted that more Malays had returned to the Umno fold in this election because they realised that it would be a “danger” to them if BN lost the election.
However, he conceded that there are "sophisticated Malays" who voted for DAP.
"These are the educated ones," he added.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng lambasted the move to turn the Chinese as “scapegoats” and shape the election results as a “Chinese-versus-Malay” vote.
“Many analysts have disputed this as a gross distortion of data, as this was more a urban-rural divide between Pakatan Rakyat and BN,” Lim said in a statement today.
“How can this be a Chinese tsunami in states like Terengganu when PAS won 15 state seats as compared to Umno’s 17, when more than 95 percent of Terengganu voters are Malays?”
He was referring to Utusan Malaysia's inflammatory front page headline today, ‘Apa lagi Cina mahu?' (What more do the Chinese want?).
The Penang chief minister also said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, if indeed serious about reconciling all Malaysians, “should respect the democratic choice of the voters”.
Should Najib fail to reign in the Umno-owned daily and stop it inflaming racist sentiments against the Chinese community, Lim added, the Umno chief would be seen as following in Mahathir’s footsteps.
“If Najib follows what Mahathir has done in blaming the Chinese after the election, then Najib has shown that he just cannot be trusted, like Mahathir.”
The Chinese Malaysian community "rejected the hand of friendship" extended by the Malays when they voted in large numbers for Pakatan Rakyat in Sunday's general election.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this today at a special press conference in Putrajaya to assess BN's performance in the 13th polls.
Mahathir said the Chinese community has been taken in by DAP's "propaganda" to topple a "corrupt Malay" government.
He also rejected the notion that the voting trend reflects the urban-rural divide in politics.
"Now urban extends to suburban areas as well. As a result, even Selangor has become a Chinese-majority state," he said.
Mahathir repeated his stance that the DAP's campaign was to make the Chinese community hate the Malay community.
"I have said this several times in my campaign, even in Johor. Lim Kit Siang brought about the concept of Malaysian Malaysia, with the intention of making the Chinese hate the Malays,” he said.
“As a result, many Chinese rejected the Malay hand of friendship."
‘Greedy Malays to blame, too’
But Mahathir said he could not discount the "greedy Malays" who are jostling for power.
"These are ones who can sell their own kind for power. There are three Malay-based parties, and there are cracks in every party, even in Umno," he said.
Mahathir then went on to say that the Malays have become "beggars in their own country".
"If Malays are not greedy, there would not be a ‘Chinese tsunami’," he insisted.
He also noted that more Malays had returned to the Umno fold in this election because they realised that it would be a “danger” to them if BN lost the election.
However, he conceded that there are "sophisticated Malays" who voted for DAP.
"These are the educated ones," he added.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng lambasted the move to turn the Chinese as “scapegoats” and shape the election results as a “Chinese-versus-Malay” vote.
“Many analysts have disputed this as a gross distortion of data, as this was more a urban-rural divide between Pakatan Rakyat and BN,” Lim said in a statement today.
“How can this be a Chinese tsunami in states like Terengganu when PAS won 15 state seats as compared to Umno’s 17, when more than 95 percent of Terengganu voters are Malays?”
He was referring to Utusan Malaysia's inflammatory front page headline today, ‘Apa lagi Cina mahu?' (What more do the Chinese want?).
The Penang chief minister also said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, if indeed serious about reconciling all Malaysians, “should respect the democratic choice of the voters”.
Should Najib fail to reign in the Umno-owned daily and stop it inflaming racist sentiments against the Chinese community, Lim added, the Umno chief would be seen as following in Mahathir’s footsteps.
“If Najib follows what Mahathir has done in blaming the Chinese after the election, then Najib has shown that he just cannot be trusted, like Mahathir.”
