KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today defended his call for the Malay community to work harder, labelling them as forgetful but stressing that it was not meant as condemnation.
The former prime minister said it was important the Malays begin facing their problems and admit the truth, as it was the only way they could resolve it.
These problems he said, among others, include the wealth disparity between the Malays and other races in the country, especially the Chinese.
He was responding to a question during an interview with the BFM radio station where the Langkawi member of parliament was asked if he agreed that his criticisms towards the Malays were the reason the community still feels they were left behind.
"When you can't admit the truth, then you can't solve the problem. During my time, I sent them (Malays) to study abroad and they came back with qualifications and improved their capacity to be better but there are so many of them in the rural areas.
"When I do something for the Malays, it is meant for everybody because we have a great disparity in terms of wealth distribution between the Malays and other races and there will be conflicts (if this persists).
"This is a historical fact in many countries. When there's a disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor, there have been revolutions, even people getting killed and I want to avoid that," Dr Mahathir said.
Asked on why Malaysians still see things through the racial spectrum instead of admitting there are many poor Indians and Chinese too, Dr Mahathir said, unlike the Malays, the other races are looked after by their own communities.
When pointed out to him that it was debatable, Dr Mahathir shifted his argument to another historical fact.
"The Chinese are able (to find wealth) because their civilisation dates back to 6,000 years and they have survived anywhere they go. They can survive on their own.
"They came here as coolies but today they are not the coolies anymore because they have (certain) capabilities," he added.