Why the narrative of "Malays under siege" as displayed in the red shirt rally despite them being the majority race in Malaysia?

The cause of it can be traced back to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad (photo) , opined DAP's Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari.

He said when Mahathir was in the political wilderness after losing his Kota Setar Selatan parliamentary seat in 1969 and subsequently sacked from Umno the year after, he wrote a book titled “The Malay Dilemma”.

Zairil argued that Malays, in Mahathir’s view, are defeatist throughout history, associated with laziness, lack ambition and uncompetitive.

“That’s why (Malays) need government help because they could not help themselves,” he said, adding that the Chinese were labeled as strong competitor to the Malays.

Hence, Zairil said, Mahathir enforced a series of affirmative actions in favour of the Malays throughout his 22-year premiership.

This has strengthened Malay reliance on government, inheriting the notion from the colonial era which says “lazy natives need protection”, added Zairil.

“This crazy story that he (Mahathir) wrote has become our country. We are living in Mahathir’s dilemma,” concluded the DAP assistant national publicity secretary in a forum titled "Growing up Malaysian, Young Malay experiences" in Petaling Jaya today.

However, Zairil dismissed Mahathir’s argument as “unsubstantiated and unscientific”, despite the latter being a qualified doctor who is supposed to be more rational.

He said Malays were once conquerors of and had strong influence in the southeast asia region.

Even today, he said, Malays are powerful in the government sector, he said.

“Consider the fact that (Malays) has demographic majority, the law constitution enshrines special position of Malays.

"At the same time, Malays constitutes 90 percent of the civil servant, army and police.

“Even in the banking sector, healthcare, stockmarket and government-linked company, Malays are there.”

Paradoxical Malays

Even then, he said, what was revealed at last Wednesday's rally was Malay inferiority, displayed when protestors said things like: “Don’t challenge Malays” or “Chinese is immigrant”.

Paradoxically, he said, although Malays constitute the majority, they still want to demand things usually extended to minority groups.

“(In a Penang forum), someone said Malaysia is a Malay land, we should have Kampung Melayu. It is a strange comment. Only the minority needs (specific community).

“You go China, you wouldn’t find Chinatown as the whole china is Chinatown. You go India, the whole India in little india.

“Why you need Kampung Melayu if whole country is Malay land?” he questioned to laughter from the audience.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday said the Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu rally on Sept 16 was to show that Malays can stand up for themselves after their leaders are mocked and their dignities challenged as in Bersih 4.

The Bersih 4 rally among others called for Najib's resignation, amid corruption allegations.

The forum was held in conjunction with the book launch of "Young & Malay" and "Merdeka for the Mind" by Gerakbudaya Publication.

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