DR Mahathir Mohamad said his remarks last month on the Chinese using chopsticks to eat are meant to illustrate cultural differences.

He said in a radio interview today that he had no intention of belittling the community and was also aware that not only the Chinese but people of other cultures used the utensil too.

“I wanted to show a difference in terms of culture. I chose chopsticks because they were the first thing that came to my mind,” he said in the interview with CityPlusFM.

“I could have said lion dance, but (I chose chopsticks) for simplicity to show the difference – that the Malays eat with their hands and the Chinese with chopsticks. That is all. The idea is not to say that chopsticks are inferior because I am aware that Koreans, too, use chopsticks, even the Japanese.” 

Describing his remarks as “innocent”, the 96-year-old former prime minister said there were people who wanted to make an issue of his words.

“Even if I had said ‘lion dance’, they will make that an issue too. These are people who are looking for ways to run down each other,” he said.

Last month, at a discussion in conjunction with the launch of his new book, Capturing Hope, Dr Mahathir had been asked about racial assimilation and if Malaysia should go the way of Indonesia. 

He was reported to have said the use of chopsticks by the Chinese showed that they preserved their own customs and had not adopted “the Malaysian way of eating food”, in reference to Malays, some of whom eat with their hands.

“They retained the chopsticks, which is an identity with China, not with Malaysia, and many other things,” Dr Mahathir had said.

He was criticised by several quarters, including opposition allies such as DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who said Dr Mahathir should focus on integration, with each culture retaining their own identities while living in a multicultural society, instead of racial assimilation.

“He is wrong to focus on assimilation instead of integration and that using chopsticks instead of adopting the Malaysian way of eating with their hands is one of the reasons leading to separation among the people,” Lim had said.

‘A nation should have one language’

In today’s interview, Dr Mahathir said assimilation in Indonesia had been possible as the Chinese had adapted by using Bahasa Indonesia as their language.

“In many multiracial countries, the migrants become their citizens and they adopt the culture of that country. They even forget their language,” he said.

“In Malaysia, the Indians and Chinese insist on reminding each other that they are not from here, even though (they) are born in Malaysia, brought up here, (they) link themselves with (their) country of origin.

“Those born here, they know the culture of the local people. We see this in Indonesia, (where) the Chinese are bigger (in number) than in Malaysia. Yet, their language is Malay or Indonesian Malay.

“In Thailand and the Philippines, they also use the language of the country.”

He said this was important for “closing bridges” across ethnic groups.

Therefore, he said, Malaysia should also work towards having a single language and culture.

However, he added that it is not wrong for any ethnic group to keep its roots and heritage.

“In most multiracial countries, there is only one language and culture. We cannot achieve that immediately, but slowly over time, we hope we can do that,” he said.

“We should work towards that (but) you want to retain your Chinese roots, by all means, do.

“But everyone must have the facilities to speak Malay like a Malay. Some do not speak Malay at all. We at least must have a common language.

“Our cultures should begin to absorb each other, we should have our own identity – a Malaysian identity so when we get to a stage where although we are people of different races, our culture, our language are almost identical.

“That will lessen identification by race. We must correct the imbalances in the country. Everyone should have the same chances to be successful.” – January 5, 2022.