DPM’s score: Malay 1, Malaysian 2
(Free Malaysia Today) – Although the scoreline indicates that “Malaysian” won the match, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, however, said as far as he is concerned it is Malay first.
The Umno deputy president said if he called himself Malaysian first, he would be shunned by his own race.
However, Muhyiddin also stressed that he is very much Malaysian.
“I am Malay first but this doesn’t mean I am not Malaysian,” he told reporters in Parliament.
Muhyiddin was responding to a challenge by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who asked the deputy premier to state which came first for him – being Malaysian or Malay.
Lim does not understand 1Malaysia
According to Muhyiddin, Lim has failed to grasp the true meaning of the government’s “1Malaysia” concept.
“How can I say I’m Malaysian first and Malay second?” he asked. “All the Malays will shun me… and it’s not proper.”
Earlier today, Lim said Muhyiddin should resign if he is not prepared to declare that in accordance with 1Malaysia goal, he is Malaysian first and Malay second.
The opposition stalwart was reacting to Muhyiddin’s earlier comments, where he accused Lim of attempting to create fissures between Najib and him.
Muhyiddin had taken the Ipoh Timur MP to task for questioning his commitment to the 1Malaysia concept.
He explained that the concept is aimed at fortifying racial unity, and is not a form of assimilation where a person’s indentity is erased and does not reject the special rights of the Malays as claimed by Lim.
