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Kota Kinabalu: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reportedly said that Johor, which once owned Singapore, should claim back the island nation.

Instead of making such demands, people are appreciating Singapore's leadership, he said.

"We should demand not just that Pedra Branca, or Pulau Batu Puteh, be given back to us, we should also demand Singapore as well as the Riau Islands, as they are Tanah Melayu (Malay land)," the Straits Times reported him as saying.

Mahathir was speaking at an event in Selangor organised by several NGOs under the banner Kongres Survival Melayu (Congress for Malay Survival) and titled "Aku Melayu: Survival Bermula" (I am Malay: Survival Begins).

In his opening speech, which was live-streamed, the Langkawi MP said that what was known as Tanah Melayu used to be extensive, stretching from the Isthmus of Kra in southern Thailand all the way to the Riau Islands, and Singapore, but is now confined to the Malay Peninsula.

"I wonder whether the Malay Peninsula will belong to someone else in the future," he said.