The government will seek to discuss the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) with all races in the country before ratifying the treaty, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The premier told reporters today that he had stated previously that adopting the convention would not be an easy task, as Malaysia is a multiracial country.

"We will sign it after we discuss (the matter) with all the races in Malaysia.

"I have mentioned in my speech (before this) that this (Icerd) would not be easy to be implemented in Malaysia because in Malaysia we have multiple races...everyone is sensitive towards certain issues."

He was answering a reporter's question after launching the National Policy on Industry 4.0 at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Tower in Kuala Lumpur.  

The reporter had asked for Putrajaya's stand on Icerd and whether it would ratify the convention by next year.

Icerd recently became a hotly debated issue after de facto National Unity Minister P Waythamoorthy said the government would ratify it in the first quarter of 2019.

This had created uproar among several groups, including Umno Youth, who said that Icerd contradicted the Federal Constitution in terms of bumiputeras' special rights and would sideline the Council of Rulers.

No use chanting 'Ketuanan Melayu'

Mahathir said that there was also no use for the Malays to chant the 'Ketuanan Melayu' slogan when in reality they worked as 'kuli' ('coolie', or unskilled labourers) for the others.

"We can be the 'tuan' if we want, but it requires (the Malays) to have knowledge, to be hardworking, do their jobs diligently, do not lie, do not steal, and do not follow the example set by the previous prime minister," he said, referring to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak who is now facing 38 criminal charges related to debt-riddled 1MDB in court.

During the press conference, Mahathir reiterated his criticism of the mentality of subsidy and incentives among Malaysians.

Answering a question on whether the government would introduce new form of subsidy or incentives for businesses to upgrade to Industry 4.0, he said Malaysians today had been so dependent on assistance "that they even want subsidies to eat".

He said: "I was asked this question in Langkawi when we were trying to tell people how to make more money. They asked me whether the new government was going to give some incentives for them.

"We are telling them how to make more money. What incentives do they want? That is the incentive, to make more money."

Mahathir said that was what the previous administration did to Malaysians, by giving out money to the people.

He said Malaysians would soon lose capability to do anything if they always looked up for subsidies.