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MALAYS have to raise their competitiveness before Malaysia can afford to welcome real estate buyers from China, Dr Mahathir Mohamad told a Bumiputera economic congress today.
Opening the doors to more Chinese nationals would push Malays further to the fringe, he added.
“They can come as foreign direct investors just like those of any other nationality. They can start factories where the workers are locals and not foreigners.
“But their investments should not be to buy land to build cities with condominiums that we can’t even afford to buy,” the prime minister said at the “Congress on the Future of Bumiputeras and the Nation” in Kuala Lumpur.
“We have to admit our weaknesses and protect ourselves until the day we can compete.”
Dr Mahathir was responding to a question from the floor about what Putrajaya would do to help local businesses compete with China.
It appeared the issue of Malay competitiveness, which he had already talked about in his keynote address, still weighed heavy on the 93-year-old leader’s mind.
He said history had shown that the Chinese, who first came to Malaysia as labourers, were an industrious people.
Subsequent immigrant Chinese generations became millionaires by setting up successful businesses despite their “labourer” backgrounds, he added.
“So what will happen to us if we accept three million more Chinese from the mainland?”
He said Malaysian Chinese were different as they had assimilated in terms of culture, but admitting more Chinese from the mainland would only push Malays further to the fringe.
“Maybe I’m a pessimist but I’m sure if we accept three million (Chinese) more, we will lose our place here. They will buy our lands and we will be moved to the edge of jungles, if not into the jungles.”
Dr Mahathir made these remarks today amid confusion over his recent statement banning foreigners from buying real estate in the Forest City township in Gelang Patah, Johor, a multi-billion dollar project by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings, whose target market is buyers from China.
Dr Mahathir had also said Malaysia did not want to issue any more visas to foreigners to live here.
Country Garden had said the prime minister’s remarks were taken out of context by the media and that it was seeking clarification from the Prime Minister’s Office, which subsequently issued a statement that Malaysia welcomed all visitors and investors from China.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamauruddin, however, had said the issue of foreign ownership of residential properties was still being studied and a report would be submitted to the prime minister.
Malaysia has a “My Second Home” programme which grants foreign buyers of high-end property a 10-year, multiple-entry visa and residency.
Homes in Forest City are sold with the prospect of a long-stay, non-permanent visa to Chinese buyers.
Previous news reports said up 1,439 Chinese citizens had received such visas in the first eight months of 2017. – September 1, 2018.
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