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Mahathir Marahkan Suqui Di Bulan Puasa By Kapal Berita 13/12/2000 7:58 pm Wed |
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Saya kepilkan beberapa berita bagaimana Mahathir mengganas kata
di bulan puasa menyerang Suqui. Nampak jelas beliau kepanasan
sejak terkena sebiji tumbukkan pengsan oleh pengundi Lunas.
SYABAS rakyat Lunas... anda sudah mengajar Mahathir laksana
buku dengan ruas. Mahathir kini menggelepar... dan dia membuka
lebih banyak ruang lagi untuk Umno serta BN cepat-cepat gulung
tikar. Saya kira berita pelbagai sumber dalam dan luar negara ini
sudah cukup untuk membuatkan rakyat dari kaum Cina melihat
telatah Mahathir yang masih cuba berbelit lidah dan tidak akur
kepada kesilapan dirinya sendiri. Sebelum pemilu 1999 yang lepas
beliau mengatakan 'bersetuju secara prinsip' dengan Suqui, tapi
sekarang beliau melabel Suqui sebagai eksrim pula. Jelas beliau
sanggup menipu demi untuk meraih kemenangan pada 1999. Sekarang
'prinsip' yang dikatakan setuju itu sudah dibuang ketepi setelah
BN kalah di Lunas. Tanggapan Mahathir bahawa sebarang kekacauan yang timbul akibat tuntutan
Suqui adalah tidak berasas kerana beliau sendiri melarang pemuda umno dan
lain-lain kumpulan 'memprotes kasar' lebih memeranjatkan. Ini adalah
kerana pemuda umno sendiri melakukan tunjuk perasaan yang paling tidak
beradap siap dengan memanjat pagar, melempar ucapan kesat dan menuding
jari kearah muka wakil Suqui. Padahal tuntutan Suqui itu tidak ada
apa-apa sangat. Malah ia tidak layak digelar tuntutan... ia lebih
merupakan satu saranan atau harapan. Jelaslah Mahathir semakin memusuhi kaum cina pula selepas tewas di Lunas.
Dia belum serik lagi walaupun Ku Li dan Shahrir sudah memberi kata-dua
kepada akhbar di luar negara. Jika BN tewas dalm pemilu yang nanti orang
umno tidak perlu menulis post mortem panjang-panjang lagi. Mahathirlah
punca segalanya sampai kini. Ugama: Hasilnya BN tumpas di Lunas. Fitnah: Akibatnya: Undi Melayu kepada Umno merosot dengan banyaknya. Salah siapa lagi
jika tidak Mahathir sendiri? Pengakuan Paksa: Kini Dr Anees, Sukma, Mior, Jamal dll, kesemuanya menarik balik
kenyataan mereka. Wajah mereka kini dengan wajah mereka sebelum itu
membayangkan penderaan mental dan fizikal yang dahsyat sudah dilakukan
oleh seorang diktator yang suka memprogram minda orang-orang yang ditekan.
Kesannya: Polis sudah dianggap tidak berguna lagi. Mereka bukan melindungi
rakyat, tetapi merekalah samseng berlesen yang lebih teruk dari Mossad.
Mahathir kini menggunakan Suqui sebagai bahan lapik untuk meraih balik
sokongan orang Melayu dan Cina kepada BN. Dia cukup takut dengan beralihnya
sokongan pengundi Cina di Lunas. Sokongan kaum Cina amat penting untuk BN,
tetapi BN gagal berpegang kepada janjinya dalam pilihanraya lepas bahawa
ia bersetuju pada prinsipnya dengan Suqui. Sikap Mahathir hari ini hanya
akan mempercepatkan lagi kemusnahan BN kerana Suqui bukanlah apa-apa sangat.
Ia hanyalah satu memorandum lembut yang mahukan keadilan untuk semua kaum
di negara ini. Jika mereka terlalu ekstrim, mengapa dibiarkan sahaja
bejuta-juta penyokong Suqui berada dinegara ini? Malah penyokong Suquilah yang
telah memenangkan BN dalam pemilu yang lepas. Sikap Mahathir hari ini
membayangkan beliau seorang yang paling tidak guna kepada masyarakat Cina..
Dan masyarakat Cina tidak akan lupa itu semua selama-lamanya.... mereka
akan menumbangkan BN dan menyokong BA bila tiba waktunya. Lunas itu baru
satu permulaan. Mahathir kini sudah diambang kejatuhan.......
KENYATAAN MEDIA LIM KIT SIANG Media Statement by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on
Tuesday, December 12, 2000: Mahathir's parliamentary statement on Suqiu a repudiation of his Vision 2020
and Bangsa Malaysia as well as confession that Barisan Nasional deceived
Malaysian Chinese to vote for it in last general election
The parliamentary statement of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad in reply to the question by DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota
Melaka, Kerk Kim Hock on Suqiu is not only a repudiation of his Vision 2020
and Bangsa Malaysia but a confession that the Barisan Nasional had deceived
the Malaysian Chinese to vote for it in the last general election to save
its parliamentary two-thirds majority.
Mahathir himself declared ten years ago that the first of the nine strategic
challenges to be overcome to achieve Vision 2020 is to establish a "Bangsa
Malaysia" - a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared
destiny, at peace with itself, territorially and ethnically integrated,
living in harmony, in full and fair partnership, with political loyalty and
dedication to the nation. Suqiu represents one formula for the establishment of such a Bangsa Malaysia
and in condemning Suqiu out-of-hand as calculated to cause racial disunity
and therefore not much different from the communists or Al-Maunah, Mahathir
had not only repudiated the Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia concepts, but
had perpetuated unwarranted and baseless slurs against Suqiu and the Chinese
community who supported it, as reflected from the endorsement from over
2,000 Malaysian Chinese organisations.
Mahathir's denunciation of Suqiu tantamounts to an indictment of his Vision
2020 as how could Bangsa Malaysia emerge from the full integration of the
diverse peoples in Malaysia if the division of Malaysians into bumiputeras
and non-bumiputeras is for perpetuity?
It was most unprincipled and cynical on Mahathir's part to say that the
Cabinet was forced to accept Suqiu "in principle" as the general election
was approaching then, stating: "We were threatened then as elections were just round the corner. That's why
they came up with the memorandum, as a threat to the Barisan Nasional, and
that if we didn't entertain their request they would tell the Chinese not to
support us. "This was deliberate and the timing was well-planned. What could we do then?"
This is nothing less than a confession that the Barisan Nasional had
deceived the Malaysian Chinese to vote for it in the last general election
by professing to support the Suqiu "in principle", making the Barisan
Nasional's general election victory and two-thirds parliamentary majority
most questionable and illegitimate. Mahathir's claim that any potential chaos arising from Suqui's demands was
defused because he personally forbade UMNO Youth and other Malay groups from
resorting to "violent protests" is most shocking, when any form of "violent
protests" to any form of electoral appeals in a democratic society must be
denounced without qualification. Is Mahathir suggesting that there would circumstances when "violent
protests" by Umno Youth would be justified or could be condoned and that
this was why no action had been taken to prosecute UMNO Youth for the
provocative and racist demonstration outside the Selangor Chinese Assembly
Hall in August? Mahathir's parliamentary statement yesterday is a most unbecoming from a
Prime Minister and is ominous about future political directions and
developments of the Barisan Nasional government.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/general/ge1112_5.htm
December 11 , 2000 21:52PM BN LOST LUNAS BECAUSE OF OPPOSITION THREATS AND LIES, SAYS MAHATHIR
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamad said the Barisan Nasional (BN) failed to defend the Lunas state
seat in last month's by-election because of threats by so many opposition
supporters besides the lies and accusations they hurled at the BN.
He told the Dewan Rakyat on Monday that one of the tactics used to woo the
Chinese voters was to harp on the protest against vision schools which was
an issue among the Chinese electorate there in the Nov 29 by-election.
"They claimed that Chinese students in vision schools will be forced to
wear skullcaps. This was spread widely by word of mouth but it proved to be
very effective," he said when replying to a supplementary question from
Kerk Kim Hock (DAP-Kota Melaka). Such campaigning tactic swayed votes from the Chinese, who strongly
supported the BN in the 1999 general election resulting in the defeat of
two DAP leaders namely Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh, said Dr Mahathir who
is BN chairman. The impression was that their sudden change of heart and aversion towards
the BN was attributed to the 83 demands by Suqui, the Chinese pressure
group, to the government before the 1999 general election, he said.
Kerk enquired whether Dr Mahathir's remarks on the Suqui demands which
angered the Chinese electorate in Lunas caused the BN to lose the seat to
Keadilan in the by-election. Dr Mahathir said Suqui claimed to be representing 2,000 Chinese
associations but it was not certain whether it held meetings with
affiliates to discuss the 83 demands and whether sensitivities and views of
the other races were taken into consideration.
"I did not get any report...even the Chinese newspapers did not report
about such meetings being held. "All of a sudden a few people came with up with this memorandum making all
sorts of ridiculous demands to get rid of the rights of the Malays and the
other Bumiputera," Dr Mahathir said emphasising the importance of taking
the sensitivities of the other races into account when making demands of
such nature. He said the fact remained that the Malays and Bumiputera were still left
behind, citing statistics that in terms of enrolment to universities alone,
perhap less than 25 per cent of them deserved admission if based on merit.
"Without government conracts, Malay contractors may not get any contract at
all. This proves that without special rights, they may not get any contract
at all. So also is the case with opportunities for education," said Dr
Mahathir who acknowledged that the government cared a little more for the
Malays because of they were still weak.
Dr Mahathir said although the government set aside 60 per cent of places in
local universities for Bumiputera, the number of Bumiputera professionals
and other graduates produced locally and by overseas universities was still
low. The prime minister said since the Suqui did not take these facts into
account, he believed the Chinese pressure group did not at all make
thorough study before coming out with its demands.
He regarded the Suqui demands as a threat directed at the BN and the timing
was perfect with the advent of the last general election.
"The DAP is no different...DAP even supports the formation of an Islamic
state to win support..by colluding (with PAS)...," Dr Mahathir said to loud
tapping of the table by government back-benchers.
Immediately Kerk and several other DAP MPs rose and called Dr Mahathir a
liar but the prime minister retorted back: "I am not lying, more so not
during the fasting month, I am speaking the truth.I am serious in my
reply." Dr Mahathir criticised the DAP, which he said, inflamed racial sentiments
at a time when the BN was all out consolidating inter-racial goodwill.
He said in Malaysia the Chinese are treated very fairly and unlike Chinese
in other countries, for instance, only in Malaysia are they allowed to set
up Chinese schools. "The Chinese, Indians and the Malays get moderate treatment. No one
community will ever get 100 per cent whatever they demanded.Even the Malays
did not get their demands 100 per cent because if they get 100 per cent
treatment this means we are not being fair to the other races," he said.
Replying to a supplementary question from Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), Dr
Mahathir, while chiding PAS, said many only talked about the Suqui demands
without bothering to read to the last word the entire content of the
demands simply because they had no principles.
Dr Mahathir denied Tan's allegations at his recent meeting with the Suqui
at the prime minister's office, only Dr Mahathir did the talking.
The prime minister told the House that during the meeting he also sought
for a briefing on the demands and the memorandum the delegation submitted.
"It is true that I explained to them the racial problem in our country, the
perils of taking the matter to the public.. demands like wanting to do away
with the difference in status for the Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera are too
sensitive for discussion," he said. The prime minister told the House that his meeting with the Suqui
delegation was in an amicable atmosphere and that he even had a photo
session with the delegation members. They also asked him what they should tell the Press about the meeting, Dr
Mahathir said. "I have very good expectations as they were very nice and courteous and
politely asked me what statement they could give to the Press and I
suggested that they should say our meeting was in an atmosphere of
goodwill," said Dr Mahathir. However, the prime minister said he was very disappointed that the moment
the general election was imminent, statements playing on strong racial
sentiments among the Chinese were issued, for which he said the methods
used were similar to the DAP's. -- BERNAMA
Dr M cites chaos if Govt entertains Suqui
by Ashraf Abdullah 11 December 2000 The Government could not entertain demands made by Suqui as they were
tantamount to abolishing Malay rights, a move which will result in chaos
and will paralyse the country's progress.
Stressing that national unity was too valuable to be forsaken, Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the Dewan Rakyat that acceding
to Suqui's demands would not only lead to racial disunity, but would also
be as good as repealing clauses in the Constitution which guaranteed
Bumiputera privileges. Suqui is the acronym for Malaysian Chinese Organisation's Election Appeals
Committee which claims to have more 2,095 associations affiliated to it.
Replying to Kerk Kim Hock (BN-Kota Melaka), Dr Mahathir reiterated his
earlier statement that Suqui's actions were not much different from that of
the communists who wanted to abolish the special status of Malays.
Dr Mahathir first made the remark in his National Day message on Aug 30.
The Prime Minister said while his criticism was only directed at Suqui,
especially certain leaders of the group, they and in particular Chinese
newspapers, made his remarks appear as if they were targetted at the entire
Chinese community. "If the Chinese in general are offended by my remarks which had been
deliberately distorted by Suqui and some Chinese newspapers," he said, "I
apologise to them." Dr Mahathir said there would be no peace in Malaysia, let alone progress,
if the Government were to resort to ignoring its social contract and the
constitution. This was because Suqui's demands that the Chinese be granted all what they
deemed to be as their rights virtually meant removal of Malay privileges
which were intended to ensure that Malays, behind in many areas inluding
economics and academics, could catch up.
"As Prime Minister, it is my responsibility to ensure peace and security in
the country," he said. "I know that any attempt to get rid of the rights of
the Malays and Bumiputera will result in chaos and disorder."
Dr Mahathir said although Suqui did not explicitly say so in its 83-point
demands, the consequence would be the removal of the divide between
Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera. The Prime Minister said any potential chaos arising from the Suqui's
demands were defused because he personally forbade Umno Youth and other
Malay groups from resorting to violent protests.
"They were told that I will personally deal with this issue," Dr Mahathir
said. He said instigations by outsiders bent on seeing Malaysia embroiled in
anarchy as in some other developing countries especially Muslim nations,
had appeared to have an impact among Malays and Malaysian Chinese following
the demands by Suqui. Dr Mahathir said despite him refraining Umno Youth and the other Malay
groups from displaying strong protest, Suqui appeared to have decided to
proceed with its demands. "Their disregard for the ban on raising sensitive issues and disrespect for
the government's social contract, national policies and directives are akin
to the attitude of communists," he said.
"Their disrespect of the other communities makes them similar to the
Al-Ma'unah (armed cult group)." He said just as with the call for Malaysian Malaysia, what was demanded was
equal rights and meritocracy. Meritocracy was in fact used as an excuse for blocking and oppressing
native people of their rights by immigrant communities as seen in an
immediate neighbouring country and other nations, he said.
"We've seen how natives of the land become marginalised, impoverished," he
said, "and have no role in the government in the name of so-called equal
rights and meritocracy." Dr Mahathir said Suqui had to be reprimanded for challenging the social
contract and attempting to grab all for one community through so-called
equal rights and meritocracy which the Malays rejected half a century ago.
The Prime Minister said Malaysians had accepted that no one community could
get all that it believed as its rights and that all communities had to
sacrifice a little to avoid erosion of the rights of others.
The Malays willingly diluted their political domination because they wanted
to recognise the rights of the non-Malays and accepted the concept of
multi-ethnicity, Dr Mahathir said while relating at length how a
multi-racial social contract came into existence in the country.
Malay leaders, he said, with their Chinese and Indian counterparts,
representing the MCA and MIC, had agreed that there would be no
nationalisation of properties and rejected the socialist system.
In turn more than one million non-Malay residents were granted citizenship
of the Federation of Malaya after they agreed and recognised the Malays as
Bumiputeras with special rights," he said.
This social contract enabled the different communities to fight for
independence together. Upon gaining independence, many predicted that Malaysia would not progress
or enjoy peace as the Malays would grab power and oppress the other races.
Dr Mahathir said it would require 3,000 per cent growth over 20 years to
raise the Bumiputera economic status from one to 30 per cent whereas for a
33 per cent growth over 20 years would be enough for non-Bumiputeras to
reach the 40 per cent target set by the NEP.
"Therefore, it is not suprising that the Malays and the Bumiputeras
achieved only 20 per cent," he said. "Even so, government agencies hold 17
per cent of that, leaving the Malays holding only three per cent."
The non-Bumiputera have already far exceeded the 40 per cent stake as set
out in the NEP objective, he said. Dr Mahathir said if the affirmative actions were to cease the performance
of the Malays and Bumiputera would decline further.
"They will revert to being the poorest and marginalised race in their own
country," he said. "There is bound to be tension in their relation with the
other communities." http://www.bernama.com/bernama/general/ge1112_2.htm
December 11 , 2000 16:01PM To meet Suqui's demands is to deny social contract
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamad said that by acceding to the demands by Suqui,the Chinese pressure
group, the government would have to ignore its social contract and also
side-step the Constitution. He told the Dewan Rakyat Monday that there would be no peace in Malaysia,
let alone progress, if the government were to resort to ignoring its social
contract and the constitution. This was because the Suqui's demands that the Chinese be granted all what
they deemed to be as their rights virtually meant removal of the difference
in status between the Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera, he said.
"As Prime Minister, it is my responsibility to ensure peace and security in
the country. I know that any attempt to get rid of the rights of the Malays
and Bumiputera will result in chaos and disorder," he said replying to Kerk
Kim Hock (DAP-Kota Melaka) during question time.
Dr Mahathir said that while the Suqui did not explicitly say so in its
83-point demands, the consequence would be the removal of the divide
between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera.
The prime minister said any potential chaos arising from the Suqui's
demands were defused because he personally forbade Umno Youth and Malay
groups from resorting to violent protests.
"They were informed that I will deal with these Suqui demands," Dr Mahathir
said. He said instigations by outsiders bent on seeing Malaysia embroiled in
anarchy as in some other developing countries especially Muslim nations,
had appeared to have an impact among Malays and Malaysian Chinese following
the demands by Suqui. Dr Mahathir said despite him refraining Umno Youth and the other Malay
groups from displaying strong protest, Suqui appeared to have decided to
proceed with its demands. "Their disregard for the ban on raising sensitive issues and disrespect for
the government's social contract, national policies and directives are akin
to the attitude of communists. "Their disrespect of the other communities makes them similar to the
Al-Maunah (armed group)," he said. The prime minister said that just as with the call for "Malaysian
Malaysia", what was demanded was equal rights and meritocracy.
He said meritocracy was in fact used as an excuse for blocking and
oppressing native people of their rights by immigrant communities as seen
in an immediate neighbouring country and other nations.
"...we've seen how native of the land become marginalised, impoverished and
have no role in the government in the name of so-called equal rights and
meritocracy," he said. Dr Mahathir said while his criticism was only directed at Suqui, especially
certain leaders of the group, they and particular Chinese newspapers made
his remarks appear as if they were targeted at the entire Chinese
community. "If the Chinese are offended because of misunderstanding purposely created
by Suqui and certain newspapers, I tender my apologies," said the prime
minister. Dr Mahathir said Suqui had to be reprimanded for challenging the social
contract and attempting to grab all for one community through so-called
equal rights and meritocracy which the Malays rejected half a century ago.
Dr Mahathir said that its has been accepted in Malaysia that no one
community could get all that it believed as its rights and that all
communities have to make a little sacrifice to avoid erosion of the rights
of others. "The Malays willingly diluted their political domination because they want
to recognise the rights of the non-Malays and accept the concept the
multi-racialism," Dr Mahathir said while relating at length how a
multi-racial social contract came into existence in the country.
He said Malay leaders with their Chinese and Indian counterparts,
representing the MCA and MIC, had agreed that there would be no
nationalisation of properties and rejected the socialist system.
"In turn more than one million non-Malay residents were granted citizenship
of the Federation of Malaya after they agreed and recognised the Malays as
Bumiputera with special rights," he said.
This social contract enabled all the communities to fight for independence
together. Upon it gaining independence, many predicted that Malaysia (Malaya then)
would not progress or enjoy peace as the Malays would grab power and
oppress the other races since 80 per cent of the Malays were then poor,
uneducated and backward in business, he said.
Unfortunately upon independence, the Malays and the other Bumiputera did
not attain much progress and only held a one-per-cent share of the
country's wealth,Dr Mahathir said. Racial riots sparked off after the 1969 general election was the
consequence of this, when the Malays, seeing the failure of their special
rights to guarantee progress, were further mocked of their dwindling
political power by certain opposition parties, he said.
Again, he said, the doom-sayers predicted that Malaysia would not recover
from the riots and that it would continue to be plagued by racial
disturbance. Yet again, he said, the wisdom of the Alliance coalition leaders prevailed
when the Malay-dominated National Operations Council which run the country
during the emergency, was made defunct.
"Instead the Alliance leaders invited all parties and communities to
discuss fresh inter-racial cooperation... which eventually created a new
approach towards resolving racial imbalance. This led to the drafting and
implementation of the New Economic Policy," he said.
Dr Mahathir said that while the Malays and the other Bumiputera made up 60
per cent of the population, the policy only set aside 30 per cent of the
country's economic wealth for distribution to them and several affirmative
action plans were carried towards achieving the objective moderately.
Dr Mahathir said it would require 3,000 per cent growth over 20 years in
order to raise the Bumiputera economic status from one to 30 per cent
whereas for a 33 per cent growth over 20 years would suffice for the
non-Bumiputera to reach the 40 per cent target set by the NEP.
"Therefore it is not suprising that the Malays and the Bumiputera achieved
only 20 per cent. Even so, government agencies hold 17 per cent of that,
leaving the Malays holding only three per cent.
"The non-Bumiputera have already far exceeded the 40 per cent stake as set
out in the NEP objective," he said. The prime minister said if the affirmative actions were to cease the
performance of the Malays and Bumiputera would decline further.
"They will revert to being the poorest and marginalised race in their own
country. There is bound to be tension in their relation with the other
communities," he said. Should that happen, peace could no longer be guaranteed and the country's
progress could be derailed, Dr Mahathir added.
-- BERNAMA http://www.lycos-asia.com/my/asia/malaysia/001211093211.ddpmodpp.html
Mahathir again likens Chinese pressure group to communists
Mahathir's earlier attacks on the Suqui group are believed to have
alienated Chinese voters before a key by-election on November 29 in which
the opposition won a surprise victory.
But an unrepentant Mahathir told parliament: "Their (Suqui's) disregard for
the ban on raising sensitive issues and disrespect for the government's
social contract, national policies and directives are akin to the attitude
of communists. "Their disrespect of the other communities makes them similar to the
Al-Maunah," he said. Some 23 members of the Al-Maunah Islamic cult are on trial for treason
after allegedly staging an armed uprising.
Mahathir said his criticism was only directed at Suqui and some of its
leaders. "If the Chinese are offended because of misunderstanding purposely created
by Suqui and certain newspapers, I tender my apologies."
Suqui first riled Mahathir with a 17-point reform programme published
before the November 1999 election. Among other issues it questioned the
granting of economic assistance just to ethnic Malays and said help should
be given to everyone in need. Malay special rights are enshrined in the constitution and are augmented by
the New Economic Policy (NEP). This affirmative action programme for Malays was introduced in 1971, two
years after anti-Chinese riots in which almost 200 people were killed. It
aims to narrow the wealth gap with the Chinese, who dominate business.
Mahathir, quoted by Bernama news agency, said granting Suqui's demands
would amount to the removal of special rights for bumiputeras (Malays and
other races deemed indigenous). "I know that any attempt to get rid of the rights of the Malays and
bumiputeras will result in chaos and disorder," he said in answer to a
question. The prime minister blamed unspecified outsiders for trying to foment
anarchy in the country. Mahathir said Suqui was demanding a meritocracy -- which was used as an
excuse "in an immediate neighbouring country" and elsewhere for denying
native people their rights. Defending what he called the "social contract" between Malays, Indians and
Chinese, he said all races had agreed to make sacrifices.
Malays had diluted their political domination and more than one million
non-Malay residents had been granted citizenship after recognising the
Malays as bumiputeras with special rights.
While the bumiputeras made up 60 percent of the population, the NEP only
set a goal of securing 30 percent of the country's economic wealth for
distribution to them. By 1990, when the NEP was replaced by a similar policy, they had achieved a
20 percent share. If affirmative action were scrapped, Mahathir said, bumiputeras "will
revert to being the poorest and marginalised race in their own country.
"There is bound to be tension in their relation with the other
communities." Dr M: Accepting all Suqiu requests would undo social contract
By Sim Leoi Leoi KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the
social contract made among the races would have come undone if all 17
points in Suqiu's memorandum were accepted by the Government.
Bowing to Suqiu's requests would have also meant that the Constitution
would have to be set aside, he said. He told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that such actions would have had
dire consequences on the country as it would not be possible then to
achieve peace among the races, what more progress.
"Suqiu is defying the country's social contract in an attempt to seize
everything for the benefit of one race alone through so-called
meritocracy and equal rights--all of which were renounced by the
Malays 50 years earlier,'' he said. Although Dr Mahathir admitted Suqiu had never explicitly stated that
it was demanding for the Malays and bumiputras to be stripped of their
special status, the group was generally asking that the Chinese be
given all the rights claimed to be owed to them.
"This has the same meaning and result of doing away with the
difference in status between bumiputras and non-bumiputras.
"I know any attempt to do away with the rights of the Malays and
bumiputras would have resulted in chaos,'' he said.
Suqiu, the Malaysian Chinese Organisations' Election Appeals
Committee, is made up of 13 Chinese associations. It claims to have
the endorsement of 2,095 Malaysian Chinese organisations just before
last year's general election. The petition, among other things, called for promotion of national
unity, advancing democracy, upholding human rights and justice,
curbing corruption, having a fair and equitable economic policy and
restoring confidence in the police force.
Dr Mahathir also told the Dewan that in fact, Umno Youth and other
Malay groups had been told that he himself would also sign Suqiu's
petition. He said instigation by foreign forces to create chaos in Malaysia was
also starting to take effect be tween the Malays and Chinese then.
"However, the situation in the country did not take a turn for the
worse and neither were there any clashes this time because I forbade
Umno Youth and other Malay groups from protesting too strongly against
Suqiu's demands,'' he said. Dr Mahathir also rebutted criticism by Kota Melaka MP Kerk Kim Hock
that he was "not serious in his answer'' as he was really worried
about the racial problems in the country and that the Opposition had
contrived to constantly bring up the issue.
Dr Mahathir stressed that he had tried to resolve the conflict with
Suqiu by meeting the group but it had since then continued to harp and
campaign on the issue. "That's why I have made the accusation by equating Suqiu to the
communists for ignoring our need for a peaceful country and wanting to
create trouble, much like the extremist group Al-Ma'unah,'' he said.
To another question from Kerk, he said the Cabinet was forced to
accept "in principle'' Suqiu's 17-point memorandum as the general
election was approaching then. "We were threatened then as elections were just round the corner.
"That's why they came up with the memorandum, as a threat to the
Barisan Nasional, and that if we didn't entertain their request they
would tell the Chinese not to support us.
"This was deliberate and the timing was well planned. What could we do
then?'' he said. Dr Mahathir said if the Barisan were to turn down Suqiu's memorandum
then, the party would have lost in the general election.
"That was its main reason for submitting a list of unreasonable
demands. "We had to refrain from taking a strong position against Suqiu's
demands then as this would have meant our defeat.
"We also had to protect our interests, much as the DAP has also run
away from committing its support for the establishment of an Islamic
state (under PAS),'' he said to jeers from the Opposition.
Kerk had questioned why the MCA and Gerakan had on Sept 3 last year
claimed that the memorandum had been accepted "in principle'' by the
Cabinet if this had actually been opposed.
To a question by Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP Kepong) that Umno and MCA
leaders had seemed to take different approaches towards Suqiu's
demands at that time, Dr Mahathir said the initial reaction of Umno
had been "expected.'' "But after we were told that this might affect our chances in the
elections and the support from the Chinese, we had to tone down our
opinions. "Of course, we have to do this in politics,'' he said, adding that
Suqiu's strategy was much like DAP's.
Dr Mahathir said although Suqiu had claimed to represent more than
2,000 Chinese associations, he had never read any report that the
group had actually held detailed discussions with them on the
memorandum and that they had agreed to it.
"What is Suqiu's right to make these demands without referring to the
rank and file? If such a demanding memorandum could be brought up in a
society as sensitive as Malaysia, a serious negotiation should have
first been convened and opened to participation from the public.
"I didn't receive any report of such a meeting. Neither was this
highlighted in the Chinese press,'' he said.
Dr Mahathir also denied that he had spent an hour "lecturing'' Suqiu,
and described this as a lie propagated by some quarters to discredit
him. The group was in fact treated very well, he said.
"It's true that I explained to them for about an hour the racial
problems and the dangers, but I wasn't the only one talking,'' he
said. Dr Mahathir added that the Suqiu representatives had asked him about
the press statement they should release on the meeting.
"At that time, I had high hopes because they were so polite. So, I
told them that they should say we had conducted the meeting in a
friendly, muhibbah atmosphere,'' he said.
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