Mahathir disagrees with Obama’s inequality remark

There is inequality in America and only one percent of the people are rich, he says

P Ramani, Free Malaysia Today

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad disagrees with US President Barack Obama over his remark that Malaysia will not succeed if non-muslims are not given equal opportunity.

After launching the ‘UN Chronicle’ book here today, Mahathir said that there is no equality in America as only one percent of the US population holds all the wealth.

“The one percent, controls the wealth in America and the rest are poor. That is the why there is a group in the US who call themselves ’99′ who want to occupy Wall Street.

“In Malaysia despite our policies, do you see the Chinese as the poorest people?

“Indians have become lawyers and doctors. You see, those who didn’t come to Malaysia are not so fortunate,” said Mahathir.

Mahathir recommended that people read ‘The price of inequality’ a book written by nobel laureate on economics, Joseph Stiglitz.

On Sunday when addressing a young leaders group at the University of Malaya, Obama had said that “Malaysia cannot flourish if the non-Muslims do not have the same opportunity”.

In his first official state visit, Obama said that “prejudices against people from different religions and races have no place in the modern world and must be removed”.

Obama also said that non-Muslims in Malaysia are currently facing hostility, and that some felt oppressed.

He added that countries, including Malaysia, will not succeed if women, who comprise roughly half of the population, are not given the same opportunities as men.