Disunity is the real dilemma of Malays: Salleh
Published on: Monday, December 22, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR: The history of the Malays has always been one of disunity, which Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad could not avoid, a former Sabah Chief Minister said.Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak in his blog Sunday, said in fact disunity happened twice during the former Prime Minister's time as well as during the reign of the country's first Premier Tunku Abdul Rahman."I doubt Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak can be blamed for this as well because the problem is with the Malays who have never seen unity for more than 1,000 years. And that, if I may be so bold as to suggest, this is the real Malay dilemma."
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Salleh was seemingly alluding to Dr Mahathir's statement that Umno, PAS and PKR had "to beg" other races for support, despite Malays making up 60pc of the population.The elderly statesman said despite Malays making up 60pc of the population, which supposedly made the community more politically dominant, the support shared by the three parties had significantly weakened the influence.The Sabah Legislative Assembly Speaker said Umno had seen many splits which resulted in breakaway parties such as the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP), Parti Negara, Umno Baru, Semangat 46 and PKR being formed.He pointed out that it was only when the British decided to form the Malayan Union in 1946 that Umno was born. Salleh said it was not so much to fight for independence but to oppose the Malayan Union.
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He added that the Islamists in Umno, however, were not too happy with the secular foundation of the party and in 1951, they left the party to form the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PMIP).Salleh felt that the Malays were clearly split six years before Merdeka in 1957.
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