Muhyiddin: I am a Malay first and Malaysian at heart

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Muhyiddin : DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had bad intention

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin says he is a Malay first but that does not mean that he is not a Malaysian at heart.

He said he would be shunned by all the Malays if he were to say that he is a Malaysian first and a Malay second.

Muhyiddin said this in response to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang’s challenge for him to resign if he refused to admit that he is a Malaysian first and a Malay second as proof that he was in full support of the 1Malaysia concept.

“I will not bow to his demand. He can repeat it a thousand times. I am a Malay first but I want to say that being a Malay does not mean that you are not a Malaysian,” he told reporters in Parliament yesterday.

He said Lim had wicked intentions in making the challenge as he (Lim) himself did not support the 1Malaysia concept.

Muhyiddin, who is also Barisan Nasional deputy chairman and Umno deputy president, said Lim’s intention was to drive a wedge between him and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who mooted the concept.

“How can I say I am a Malaysian first and a Malay second. All Malays will shun me and say it’s not proper as Indians will also say they are Indian first,” he said.

Muhyiddin said by issuing the challenge, Lim was trying to attack the 1Malaysia concept which he did not support but had gone down well with the people.

He said he had previously stated in the Dewan Rakyat when explaining the concept that when a leader spoke on his community, it did not mean that he did not support the 1Malaysia concept which was based on the Federal Constitution and Rukunegara, among others.

“It is not wrong for any leader to struggle for the interest of his own race. Don’t tell me that Kit Siang does not struggle for the Chinese community.

“It does not mean that if we help the Malays, we don’t help the Chinese. We help all communities,” he said.

Questioning Lim’s intention in bringing up the issue since he was championing the Middle Malaysia, Muhyiddin issued a challenge to the Ipoh Timor MP to prove that all parties under Pakatan Rakyat supported the concept.