Mahathir blasts S’pore to rally poll support for BN
(Straits Times) – FORMER Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is one of those tasked with campaigning for the Barisan Nasional slate in Johor, has reached for an old playbook in order to drum up support – by hitting out at Singapore.
In a blog posting on Thursday, he accused the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) of wanting to end the traditional Malay-Chinese cooperation in Malaysia.
This concord, he said, is premised on the kongsi, or sharing, principle of “not taking all our entitlements for ourselves but sacrificing some so others may get their share”.
Instead, the DAP wants to implement meritocracy, which he said the ruling People’s Action Party in Singapore champions and is “about the winners taking all”.
“The meritocracy promoted by the DAP will mean diminishing opportunities for the Malays in education and in business,” he said. “This will result in the Malays becoming less and less qualified and poorer.”
He went on to say that if DAP leader Lim Kit Siang wins Gelang Patah, a closely watched seat in Johor, an “unhealthy racial confrontation” will be the result.
Tun Dr Mahathir also voiced a similar theme during a speech last Saturday to rally support for the BN in Selangor.
“DAP uses the PAP way. When PAP was in Malaysia, it used the slogan ‘Malaysian Malaysia’. It said Malays took everything, others nothing. Is that true?” he said. “We see that other races have wealth.
“There are hundreds of millionaires among them today.”
He added that while Singapore closed Chinese vernacular schools, Malaysia allowed them, although most of its leaders are Malay.
This shows the government’s “fairness”, which contrasts with the “racism of DAP”.
At recent Umno rallies in Johor, the state closest to Singapore, speakers alleged that Malay Singaporeans had been marginalised, and warned local Malays of a similar fate if they voted opposition.
