This is one of the rare occasions these days where I agree with the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad who said yesterday that Malaysia will only have a non-Malay prime minister when the Malays, who make up the majority of the population, are ready to accept one.
I had said that I do not expect a non-Malay, whether a Chinese or Indian, to become Prime Minister for the next 100 years, expressing the hope that it would not take 230 years like the United States for a Black American, Barack Obama, to be President. May be it may never happen at all.
But would it take 100 years before a Dayak or Kadazan, to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia?
I agree with what Mahathir said yesterday, although I do not agree with what Mahathir said on the subject in March this year, where he was reported to have said that “Malaysia’s indigenous Malays are losing political influence” and the country may have a non-Malay prime Minister “when the next election comes around”.
He said: “There is no guarantee that the prime minister will be a Malay as anyone can be the prime minister. Even now, the Malay parties in the government are not in power and they are divided into three parties.
“I am sure that if we’re not careful, the next election will come and if the votes get bought off, we’ll elect people who are not good and they will mortgage our country.”
It is most unfortunate that an explanation of the constitutional provision of the Prime Minister in my remarks to Malaysian students in Manchester last month was exploited by irresponsible elements to intensify a sense of fear and insecurity of the Malays about the future which, coupled with an unscrupulous and unprincipled use of lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech in the era of social media, make Malays feel that a non-Malay Prime Minister was imminent.
As Mahathir, when he was the Prime Minister a second time, was the victim of such unscrupulous and unprincipled dirty politics, it is shocking he should give his blessing to such unscrupulous and unprincipled politics now.
It is significant that recent politics have made marked by thunderous silences – the thunderous silence of Muhyiddin Yassin whether Mahathir was subservient to DAP when he was Prime Minister the second time as to justify the Sheraton Move political conspiracy which toppled the second Mahathir premiership and the thunderous silence of Hadi Awang to challenges to substantiate his wild and preposterous allegations that DAP and I were anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty, communist and spreading Islamophobia.
Despite extremist and perverted attacks, I am convinced that Malaysia can only rise up again to become a great world-class nation and be a role model of the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony if all Malaysians dream the Malaysian Dream, and not separate Malay, Kadazan, Dayak, Chinese and Indian Dreams.