If Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants to leave his position in a memorable way, he should reform the Barisan Nasional (BN) by making it a single multi-racial party, said a student leader today.

"He needs not only the support of the Malays, but other groups as well. If he reads the grassroots properly, he would know that one way is to reach out to everyone," said National Youth Society (NYS) president Stephen Doss.

"The youths I deal with everyday, even the Malay youths, are very open to the idea (of a multi-racial party) especially when we talk about globalisation, challenges of the future and competition," he added.

NYS, a multi-racial youth society who has 2,500 members is headquartered in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. Other than social activities, the group runs tuition classes for children who come from poor households or those whose parents have a joint income of less than RM1,500.

Speaking at the National Unity Convention in Petaling Jaya last Friday, Doss called upon the Barisan Nasional (BN) to slowly dismantle its different ethnic components.

"As long as politicians in ethnic-based parties feel the need to play the race card to win votes within their own party, these very same politicians will have no credibility to talk about national unity," said Doss.

Nation's assets

Doss also questioned the implementation of the quota system in government institutions and said the concept led to a misconception of Malay supremacy, which was not intended by those who designed the New Economic Policy (NEP).

"We are told in religious teachings that all humans are born equal. It is therefore difficult for the young to understand why when God himself does not discriminate, who gives man the authority to do so?" he asked.

Doss said those who come out blatantly to defend Malay special rights are bankrupt politicians.

"If affirmative action measures are to maintain any credibility, there should be a mechanism to punish those who abuse it," he said adding affirmative action needed to be based on needs rather than race if such measures were sincere in restructuring society.

Doss said that before youth are expected to stand up and be counted to contribute to the nation, it was the duty of the nation to embrace them as the nation's assets.

"We cannot segregate our youths according to status, bumiputra or non-bumiputra, Malays or non-Malays, reward them differently according to their status and yet expect all of them to sacrifice without feeling discriminated," he said.

Chinese members

In an attempt to enhance national unity, following the Petaling Jaya Selatan racial clashes recently which claimed six lives and left scores of people injured, BN leaders are toying with the idea of multi-racialism in their component parties and government institutions.

Yesterday, Mahathir announced that Umno would now accept Chinese Sabahans as members adding that it was possible that other races would be allowed to join the party in the future.

"If we come to a stage when people are not too conscious about their race ... at that stage it is possible," he told a press conference after presiding over the dissolution of the Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat (Akar), a Sabah BN component party, in Kota Kinabalu.

Mahathir, who is Umno president and BN chairperson, said the move was not unusual as Umno has accepted Thai Malaysians before.

BN component party leaders welcomed the decision as one that will bring Umno one step closer towards becoming a multi-racial party.

The governing coalition is made up 13 political parties, mostly racially-based parties.