Malaysians becoming more racist, threatening country’s foundation, says Dr Mahathir

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) today said Malaysians were becoming more racist than ever by making demands that he said could threaten the country's foundation.

"I read reports in the papers this morning saying that now Datuk Seri Najib is going backwards towards the day of favouring the Bumiputeras.

"It is not a case of favoring Bumiputeras, but creating a society where wealth is evenly distributed among all people," Dr Mahathir said, in defending Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the recently announced Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Plan (BEEP).

He said the critics forgot that in the past, resentment of the rich by the poor had resulted in people rebelling against the government.

This, he said, gave birth to such ideologies as socialism and communism.

"If the poor is related to race, the potential for violence is much greater. We want to correct that disparity," Dr Mahathir said during a visit to the MMC-Gamuda MRT construction site in Kuala Lumpur today.

"Each race has got its own extremist and they make demands which disrupt the stability of the country.

"So it is better to make a little sacrifice to correct imbalances within our society so that every race can have a share from all that is going on in this country."

Dr Mahathir's latest remarks appear to be a break from his recent series of criticism on Najib. He had called Putrajaya's cash disbursement under Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia as "ineffective" and also spoken out against the repeal of draconian acts.

He was commenting on the growing discontent by non-Malays on the special privileges in terms of economic development granted to the Malays.

The BEEP will grant Bumiputeras access to over RM30 billion in funding and contracts. Najib had three years ago also introduced the New Economic Model, replacing the controversial New Economic Policy. - October 10, 2013.