YOURSAY 'If the premier for all Malaysians appears, and the people are ready, should his race or religion be a problem?'

Non-Malay PM: Khoo says nay, Malay politicos say aye

ABBN: It doesn't matter what race the future premier of Malaysia is just as long as he is the best and most respectable Malaysian recognised through a direct election system.

It's important that this premier considers himself as a premier for all Malaysians and not a premier for only a particular race or group of people.

Good examples are Barack Obama, who is a president for all Americans regardless whether they are black or white or yellow, and former South African president Nelson Mandela.

Ez24get: A historian interpreting the federal constitution? The federal constitution is about the people - the present and the future, not the past. It is ever evolving and history has no relevance.

Professor Khoo Kay Kim is certainly not a lawyer or an expert on the law. Certainly history has no relevance just because all the prime ministers of Malaysia were from one Malay party, Umno, since independence.

That cannot be used as the norm to say that the PM must be a Malay. The premier of Malaysia is one who is liked by the people, considered as having the right qualities, best suited to the job and most importantly, elected by Malaysians of the day.

What has history got to do with it?

Wira: Constitutionally yes, but in practice no. Why does the professor have to tell long cock-and-bull story and bring in history?

It is like telling the Americans that the US cannot have a black president because blacks were slaves before in a white country.

Anonymous #19098644: The first prime minister's mother was a Siamese. The second prime minister unashamedly stated that he is of Bugis background and their Sulawesi relatives today still hold them in high esteem.

The third prime minister is descended from the same race as Recep Erdogan - Turkey's prime minister.

The fourth prime minister we all know is a ‘Mamak' who has repudiated his own race and ancestors so that he could become prime minister.

The fifth prime minister has a grandfather with the surname Ha and the Hainanese in China cite him as one of their successful sons.

The current prime minister is also Bugis and Khoo can confirm that they are renowned as descendants of pirates.

So tell me which prime minister of Malaysia can claim to be a son of the soil? All of them are ‘soiled'.

USChallengerReturns: We will cross the bridge when we come to it. There is no difficulty at all as Pakatan Rakyat practises consensus.

Pakatan, as a multiracial party with abundant capable and trustworthy leaders, will not have any difficulty at all and it will not place emphasis on race when it comes to the crunch.

Racism is doomed and is to be buried with the BN. And the best person for the chair will take up the job.

Yeow: This was a good forum as the discussion was done with much maturity. The reality now is that the Malays are the majority and the premier comes from this group.

The future may be different though. The Malays will be the majority but if racial sentiments are diminished probably a capable non-Malay who has the confidence of the nation, may be selected as the PM.

I allude to the current US president, who is a Black American. No one would ever thought that this could be possible.

Timothy: What is the issue here? As long as one is a Malaysian and has the support to be the premier, who cares about one's race, whether one is fat or thin, tall or short.

Why waste time and energy on such petty issues.

My Challenge: Dare the learned ones question the present political structure whereby only a few thousand Umno delegates out of the 27 million rakyat are allowed to decide on who should be PM?

Anonymous #41806395: I am by default a Malay, although along the way there were some Chinese, Javanese and Mandailing blood running through my veins.

According to some of my Indonesian friends, the Javanese would not call themselves Malay, unlike in Malaysia.

The funny thing is even my auntie, who is Javanese through and through, one day commented that it was a pity that Penang is in the hands of the Chinese. Wouldn't it be better if it is under the rule of 'orang kita', meaning the Malays, she wondered aloud.

I'm longing for the day when we can all shed our racial and ethnic identities and call ourselves Malaysian.

Maybe not next year, maybe it will take another world war and another 50 years under the current corrupt government, only then will we realise this.

Kim Quek: I fail to see the need for controversy over this issue. Constitutionally, a person of any race can become a prime minister if he commands the confidence of the majority in the House of Representatives.

Practically, only a Malay can become the PM at this stage of the country's political development due to current political realities.

And it will remain so in the foreseeable future. Full stop.

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