MALAYS need to develop a different value system in order to succeed as affirmative policies alone cannot work without a change in mindset, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“We have to realise that affirmative action alone cannot make a success of Malays. They must change their character,” he said, on whether affirmative action should be continued.

“We have to change their value system as it is unsuitable for success. There’s no success without hard work,” said the prime minister ahead of Bersatu’s second AGM that started yesterday.

The 93-year-old Bersatu chairman will deliver the party’s policy speech at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre tonight.

Dr Mahathir, who replaced the New Economic Policy that began in 1971 with the New Development Policy and has fought for economic parity for the Malays since the 1960s, had previously used the Umno general assemblies to critique the Malays for what he terms as “laziness”.

He believed his “hard truth” was necessary despite getting slammed by academics who said that his stereotype was “irrelevant and harmful”.

“I don’t like to say this about my own but I have to tell them that they are wrong,” Dr Mahathir repeated during the interview.

He said that the government has to inculcate better values through the education policies.

“We have to start at the kindergarten level because parents have no time to teach their children. We will go into the schools to teach the new values they should have.

“For the Malays, the best values are the Islamic values that proposes many good things. But they don’t follow them,” said Dr Mahathir.

Below is an excerpt of the interview with Dr Mahathir.

Q: How will you change the Malay mindset used to the Umno ways?

Dr Mahathir: We have to change their value system as it is unsuitable for success. There’s no success without hard work.

I met with a restaurant owner who wanted to bring in workers from India. I asked them why they didn’t take Malays. He said he had hired Malays but they left after three to four days.

I also asked a contractor where his workers came from and he replied Indonesia. I again asked why he didn’t employ Malays. He replied that he did but none stayed because the conditions were too hot to work.

Today, we have millions of foreign workers because some of our people don’t want to work. Malays are angry that I call them lazy but this is the truth.

If we don’t want to work, others will come take our place. In the end, others will be rich and own this country and we cannot be angry at them.

The Chinese and Indians came because we didn’t want to work in the mines or estates. We only want to grow paddy because you only have to work a few months to plant paddy.

Q: What needs to change?

Dr Mahathir: The most important thing is the people and their value system. Their value system is wrong and it will not bring success.

The Malays and the Indonesians are the same people but their culture is different. I know of contractors who tell me they prefer Indonesian workers because they will work hard.

When we introduced double cropping for rice, PAS told everybody “tak kering hujung kain” (the ends of your sarong will never dry). Is that important while having no money in your pockets? Their value system is all wrong.

We have to start at the kindergarten level because parents have no time to teach their children. We will go into the schools to teach the new values they should have.

For the Malays, the best values are the Islamic values that proposes many good things. But they don’t follow them.

Q: Has affirmative action encouraged this?

Dr Mahathir: Affirmative action implies giving opportunities to the Malays. We have introduced many policies and support but they all failed because it doesn’t change the character of the person.

If I gave RM1 million to a Malay, a Chinese and an Indian, who will win? The Malay will buy his first car, probably a Lamborghini, the Chinese will start a business while the Indian will see how he can help his son become a doctor. This a bad example but this is the truth.

I don’t like to say this about my own but I have to tell them that they are wrong.

Q: So, is keeping affirmative action the answer to the problem?

Dr Mahathir: Affirmative action is about support. Changing character is something that we have to concentrate on. We have to realise that affirmative action alone cannot make a success out of Malays. They must change their character.

Q: Can a change in the education policy achieve this?

Dr Mahathir: I’ve talked to the people who are formulating the education policy. The national schools have become religious schools and the Chinese and Indians don’t want to go to the national schools. Four periods in a day they were teaching Islam, which is fine.

But do you want the Malays to only know Islam and nothing else?

We want to change the curriculum so that while they must know enough about their religion, they must also learn mathematics, science, geography and history. Mathematics and Science will be in English.

Q: When will Malays be self-sufficient?

Dr Mahathir: I hope it will not take long. I have studied people’s behaviour and what makes one successful and another a failure is due to their culture and value system.

Between the Chinese and the Malays, the Chinese are hardworking, dynamic and knowledgeable. They will succeed even when there’s no help. Look at the country now. The Malays have left the towns to live in the rural areas.

There’s no more Kg Kerinchi or Kg Abdullah Hukum or Sg Penchala because they are poor and they are frightened.

They are selling their land because of the good prices and then they retreat to the rural areas. And when as the town grows, they sell again and retreat again, until now they are at the fringes of the jungle.

They are frightened as they will be in the jungle. They want someone to protect them and they believe only Malays can protect them. So they want this party and if we don’t cater to them we will not get their support and we will always be losing. – December 29, 2018.