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Malays will never perish even if Umno loses, assures DAP leader

KUALA LUMPUR — Malays should not fear that the Chinese or other races will seize political power if ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) loses in the May 9 general election, opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) said on Friday (April 13).

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang says Malays should not fear that the Chinese or other races will seize political power if Umno loses in the May 9 general election.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang says Malays should not fear that the Chinese or other races will seize political power if Umno loses in the May 9 general election.

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KUALA LUMPUR — Malays should not fear that the Chinese or other races will seize political power if ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) loses in the May 9 general election, opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) said on Friday (April 13).

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said it is impossible for Malays to perish and for Chinese Malaysians to take over when the latter demographic group’s population has been dropping over the past 60 years and is expected to decline further by 2030.

In comparison, he said the Malay population in the country has been growing.

“Let us remember Malay hero Hang Tuah’s words, ‘Takkan Melayu hilang di dunia’ (Malays will never vanish from the face of the earth).

“Based on Umno’s own statistics, the percentage of the Chinese in Malaysia have fallen from 37 per cent in six decades to 24 per cent and will continue to fall to below 20 per cent in a decade’s time,” he said in a statement.

He said that Malays need not be worried since the overwhelming majority of Malaysian voters are still Malays and the overwhelming majority of parliamentary and state assembly constituencies in the country are Malay voter-majority constituencies.

Mr Lim said the fear that Malays would perish and be dominated by Chinese Malaysians if Umno were defeated in the elections was perpetrated by Umno leaders, propagandists and “quinoa cybertroopers”.

“Any rational or right-thinking Malay will see through the chicanery and humbug of this immoral politics of fear and politics of race,” he added.

He said DAP’s sacrifice of its iconic “rocket” logo in the upcoming polls proved the party’s commitment to make its opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition work as a more successful, efficient and capable government.

DAP and the other three PH components — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Amanah Negara and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) — have agreed to use PKR’s light blue “eye” logo in the general election.

“The difficult decision was made to send a message to 3.6 Umno members and 1 million PAS members that Pakatan Harapan is ready to rise above self, race, religion and political party to save the country,” Mr Lim said.

He also said the PH pact has changed former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad from a “hegemon” when the latter was in Umno to a consensus-builder now.

“Many questioned how can I work together with my former nemesis? Yes, I did make criticisms about Dr Mahathir’s mistakes and negligence during his leadership. I couldn’t agree with Dr Mahathir’s policy then,” Mr Lim said.

He asserted that Malaysia had deteriorated compared to the previous administration.

“He has adapted well from a hegemon to a consensus man,” Mr Lim said of Dr Mahathir. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE

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