Chinese extremism will give rise to Malay extremism, PM warns

comments     YS Tong and Beh Lih Yi     Published     Updated

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today warned that if Chinese Malaysians were to give support to extremism within the race, it will give rise to Malay extremism as well.

"I admit that the Malay extremists are gaining support. Their number is increasing," he said at the opening of the 49th MCA annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Mahathir said that the rise of Malay extremism is the result of extremism displayed by certain quarters within the Chinese community.

"They (the Chinese) play with fire and will be hurt by the fire that they started. That's why we need to narrow the differences among all races from young," he said.

Pointing to education as a sticky issue, Mahathir said the government wanted to bridge the communication gap between various races by bringing national and national-type schools together.

"Unfortunately, our good intention for the future of Malaysia has been labelled by the extremist groups as an effort to get rid of Chinese schools.

"This issue has been politicised by the opposition parties and sometimes, even BN component parties," he said.

In Aug 2000, Mahathir had also likened a civil group, Suqiu or the Malaysian Chinese Election Appeal Committee, and Chinese education movements to "communists and extremists of the past".

Dangerous behaviour

He said these extremist groups have always wanted to split the races in the country and would oppose any effort to forge national unity.

"They want the young generation to be separated so that there will be no interaction. Even the schools [of different teaching mediums] cannot be placed close to each other," he said.

Mahathir described this behaviour as "dangerous" to the country as it will cause tension among races and in the long run may "explode" into a tragedy like the racial riots in 1969 which had led to hundreds of deaths in Kuala Lumpur.

"Extremism breeds extremism. When an extremist group from one race does not respect another race, then the other race will retaliate with more extreme actions. This will escalate to an open hatred among the races," he said.

He said racial polarisation had turned worse over the years compared to his time.

"When I was a university student, my roommate was a Chinese. We did not have any problems staying together and we were good friends. To this day, he still practises his culture and I am no less a Malay and a Muslim.

"But in universities today, students of different races can't even sit together in the lecture hall. There are no ties of being Malaysians among them," he said.

Government worried

The premier said the government was worried that the support for Malay extremists was increasing these days.

"In the latest by-elections (in Pendang and Anak Bukit), thousands of Malay extremists were brought into the constituencies to scare the Chinese so that they will not come out to vote on polling day," he said.

He said if Malay extremists were to gain more support at the expense of moderate Malays, the country may not be able to uphold equality for all races.

"In certain states that are ruled by these extremists, the denial of rights for other races has already started," the premier claimed.



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