(AFP) - Malays must copy the ethnic Chinese in Malaysia if they want to prosper, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Mahathir, a frequent critic of fellow Malays, said the different rate of progress by various races worldwide was due to their values or culture.

"Abundance of natural resources, conducive climate, geographical factors and others have no effect on culture ... that is why in the same country, different races with different cultures achieve varying degree of success," he said in a speech at an education convention.

Mahathir said Malaysia's Chinese placed great emphasis on acquiring knowledge compared to the Malays.

He bemoaned the poor performance of Malay university students.

"This statement many cause anger among certain quarters but it is this difference in the cultures of the Chinese and the Malays which makes it difficult to achieve the objectives of the New Economic Policy," he said.

The policy, started in 1971, gives Malays special economic, education and other privileges to help them narrow the gap with the wealthier Chinese minority.

Change cultural values

"If we were to balance the performance of the races in Malaysia, values and culture hindering the achievement of progress should be discarded," Bernama news agency quoted Mahathir as saying.

Educators should be trained to change the values and culture of younger Malays, he said.

"They should be guided by the true Islamic values, not values indiscriminately inculcated by those with other motives."

Mahathir said earlier this week that Muslims worldwide must acquire modern skills rather than focus on religious studies if they want to catch up with the rest of the world.

Today, he said Muslims had missed out on the Industrial Revolution.

"Let not the Malays in Malaysia deliberately miss the opportunity from the Information Revolution. Should we miss out again this time, we may not be able to catch up with progress."

Muslim Malays make up about half the population and Chinese about 25 percent.