We will look into your demands, Dr Mahathir assures Malays

Ragananthini Vethasalam Mohd Farhan Darwis Ragananthini Vethasalam, Mohd Farhan Darwis Updated 4 years ago · Published on 6 Oct 2019 2:26PM · 4 Comments

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the government will consider the demands of the Malays Dignity Congress, but it is not obliged to adopt them. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Seth Akmal, October 6, 2019.

PUTRAJAYA will consider the resolutions mooted at the Malay Dignity Congress today as it obviously reflects the feelings of the community, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The resolutions will be brought to the government, he said after his speech at the congress held at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam today.

“Today, the Malays are worried about their future. They are concerned that they are not looked up to like other people,” the prime minister said.

“The government and the Malays themselves should play a role in rescuing (and) restoring Malay dignity.”

One of the demands put forward was to do away with vernacular schools and establishing a single stream school system.

When asked if the demands will be accepted, Dr Mahathir said the government is not obliged to accept all of them and the government will have to see what it can and cannot do.

Today’s congress saw resolutions on the economy, politics, education, religion and culture by student leaders, which were forwarded to Dr Mahathir.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the government and the Malays themselves should play a role in rescuing the dignity of the community. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Seth Akmal, October 6, 2019.

The congress was organised by Universiti Malaya’s Malay Excellence Studies Centre, in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Sultan Idris Education University.

On whether the conference had racist and political elements, Dr Mahathir said no as it was attended by  representatives of non-government-linked groups and universities.

“This is not political because there are various (groups of) attendees. NGOs are here, universities are here and also political parties.

“They came here to know what has happened to the dignity of Malays and how to recover it.

“It is not racist… the Indians and Chinese are not being criticised. We are criticising the Malays and how they became like this because they did not do what was supposed to be done.”

In his speech earlier, Dr Mahathir said Malays could not preserve their dignity if they did not work hard  and make efforts to improve themselves.

Historically, he said, non-Malays were brought to Malaysia during the colonial era to do jobs that the Malays did not want to do, and these foreigners have stayed on, becoming citizens and moving ahead socio-economically.

The Malay community has not learnt from history as foreigners continue to come to Malaysia to do the jobs that they refuse to do, he said.

He reminded the community not to shun low-paying or dangerous, dirty and difficult work, otherwise known as “3D jobs” because they would be taken up by foreigner

He said there were well-paying jobs in air-conditioned offices but the Malays lacked even the will to take them up.

Dr Mahathir said while the government will help the community, the Malays should also put in the effort to  seize the opportunities given to them to increase their wealth.

He also advised them to not sell off their lands for quick returns but to instead use them to generate income and enrich themselves. – October 6, 2019. 

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • ..and Saddiq want the under 21 to vote.

    Posted 4 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • There is no dignity for any race if they demand previledges bcos these spoon fed benefit will put them incompetent and lazy. They are already been termed as lazy community, now is to train them to work hard as away of life. People respect the Chinese for been hard working ,persistent and consistent. The Chinese are a race of dignity bcos they will reject previledges for no good reason. We don't fight for previledges, it's a shame. We fight for fair and just society. We trust our Chines education who incalcute trustworthiness, integrity, dignity, prudence and good manners.

    Posted 4 years ago by James Wong · Reply

  • Dignity has nothing to do with special rights or the status of the religion. Dignity is earned when people look you up because you live with great virtues, good minds, and have good relationship with people.

    Posted 4 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • The country will further be screwed up if Mahathir were to follow their idiotic resolutions. The new Government was elected to new future but again with this sort of Malays organising Malay Dignity Congress will take our country back to square one. Everything they want to be spoon fed. Funny type of people we have in Malaysia. Malaysia is dead if Mahathir took their resolutions to the government to give leeway to their demands. When are they going to learn to live with some DIGNITY? Real kampong idiots! It looks UMNO has come alive.

    Posted 4 years ago by Swaminaidu Venkatasamy · Reply