BUDGET 2018 | Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his opening remarks before tabling Budget 2018 today could not help but hit out at an individual whom he claimed had recently insulted the Bugis community.

"Sadly, as we are building a civilisation, how could that person insult those with Bugis ancestry.

"But it's okay, what's important is that we have to continue to be magnanimous," said Najib to loud table thumps from BN lawmakers present in Parliament today.

Citing a Malay poem, Najib said in Kedahan slang that most people in Kedah are "nice and friendly people".

"Except for one or two people who mudah lupa (easily forget).

"(But) the BN government is sincere, it works for the country and the people. This is the budget you have been waiting for," he added.

Although Najib did not mention anyone by name, it is obvious that he was referring to his nemesis and predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, with the "mudah lupa" reference.

Mahathir (photo) had also made reference to Najib's Bugis ancestry at the anti-kleptocracy rally earlier this month, stating that Najib could trace his ancestry to "Bugis pirates".

Mahathir had repeated his controversial comment during a ceramah in Kedah and also claimed Najib ordered a Bugis community group to protest outside his Perdana Leadership Foundation office in Putrajaya last week.

The group, which claimed to represent the Bugis community in Peninsular Malaysia, also threatened to lodge police reports throughout the country if Mahathir refused to withdraw his statement and apologise.

Mahathir had later denied insulting the entire Bugis community with his "pirate" remarks.

"I am not insulting the (entire) Bugis community... There are also crooks among them. Would the Bugis people themselves say that there are no crooks among them?" he had said.

Meanwhile, without mentioning names, Najib also mocked Mahathir's handling of the 1997 financial crisis.

"The current international reserve stands at US$101.4 billion. In 1997, it was only US$21.7 billion.

"Despite the reserve being at a low of US$21.7 billion, the country did not go bankrupt, what more with a reserve of US$101.4 billion," he said.

Najib appeared to be referring to Pakatan Harapan's repeated accusations that BN was driving the country to bankruptcy. Mahathir is now Harapan chairperson.

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