Former information minister Zainuddin Maidin has taken a swipe at Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin when sharing his thoughts on an MCA leader’s call for Umno to shed its scare tactics to win over the Malay electorate.

He said MCA central committee leader Ti Lian Ker’s statements showed that Umno, especially its Youth wing, was not in line with the mindset of the younger generation.

“(This is) despite (the wing) being led by someone who has an Oxford qualification but still allows the youth (members) to play with kampung politics which is no longer relevant to the current generation of educated Malays.

“Although this is not stated by the Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin himself... it is clear that he places greater importance on his personal survival than that of Umno’s.

“His generals always portray the Malays of being in fear and display a reaction of being prepared to go to war as well as not behaving in a rational manner,” he added in his blog.

As for Ti’s statement, Zainuddin, better known as Zam, said it heralded a new dimension in the local political arena brought about by the meeting between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim.

“This cannot be taken lightly by BN component parties, especially Umno,” he added.

The former minister said Ti’s remarks cannot be considered racist because it is a dynamic viewpoint based on the political realities at present.

He said the new generation of Malays want a leadership which is credible and clean as opposed to one that fishes for votes with religious and racial clarion calls.

“I believe Ti’s views also reflect the thoughts of other MCA leaders who have seen the dynamism in Mahathir’s willingness to shake hands with his old foe while being together with DAP which is considered a Chinese racist party for the sake of national pride,” he added.

In a media statement earlier, Ti had said that if f Mahathir could be Machiavellian enough to re-embrace Anwar in a game changer, then Umno should do the same.

"Gone were the days where Umno can step or pick on minorities to display their strength and as a clarion call for Malays or Muslims to unite or stay together against the others," he added.