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The constitution was not ratified until 1957. Yet, Mahathir was born in 1925. In 1925, your race was your father’s race. So how could Mahathir be a “born Malay” from the time he was born until he was 32 in 1957 when neither his father, grandfather, or great grandfather were Malays.
Nehru Satyamurthy
Mahathir was born 100 years ago, so the likelihood of having documents that can conclusively prove his race and ancestry is very low. 100 years ago, I doubt you even had documents like birth certificates or passports. Back then, I think if you wanted to come to India from Malaysia or vice versa, you just went there by boat. You didn’t need to provide any travel documents.
If your wife gave birth to a child during that era, I doubt you would have needed to inform anyone except relatives. The ruling colonial government at the time probably had little interest in issuing birth certificates to anyone born in the country.
Currently, Mahathir is suing Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi in court for claiming that Mahathir’s real name is “Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”. Foreigners will not understand why he is making such a fuss about this, but for all of us Malaysians, we know that the reason why Mahathir is so upset about Zahid’s claim is because Zahid’s claim implies that Mahathir is Actually Indian, not Malayas he said.
During the court case, Mahathir presented some evidence to prove that he was a “pure Malay”, unlike what Zahid claimed.
However, I found considerable holes in the evidence presented by Mahathir.
Firstly, according to Mahathir, his other siblings use “bin” or “binti Mohamad Iskandar” while his name is “bin Mohamad”. Somehow, I find the idea that you have a different name from your siblings very strange. How did this happen? It certainly couldn’t have been by accident. If you already have 9 older siblings who have “bin” or “binti Mohamad Iskandar” added to their names, why did you decide to break with tradition? It is highly unlikely that his parents or siblings wanted him to name himself differently from them, so he must have done it himself. Why would he do this? Why would he deliberately give himself a name that alienates him from his family, especially his father?
I also found his explanation equally strange that his father’s name was Mohamad and his grandfather’s name was Iskandar, because if that was the case, then why did his 9 older brothers and sisters call themselves bin and binti Iskandar. Didn’t they know that it was their grandfather, not their father, who was called Iskandar?
Mahathir said that while there are no records to show whether his grandfather or great-grandfather came to Malaysia from Kerala, he is certain that his father’s name is “Mohamad bin Iskandar” and that his father is “registered as a pure Malay”. Who registered his father as a “pure Malay” when he was born in the late 1800s? Why did they go around registering people as pure Malays or pure Chinese or whatever at that time? Moreover, if Mahathir claims that his father was registered as a “pure Malay”, then his grandfather must also be identified as a Malay because racial identity follows the paternal line. If Mahathir himself admits that his great-grandfather or grandfather came from India, then how can he claim that his father is a “pure Malay”?
If his father could not be a “pure Malay”, then how could he claim to be one? “I was born a Malay”, even though his father married a Malay wife?
Mahathir could perhaps claim to be a Malay based on the definition of Malay in Article 160 after the Federal Constitution was ratified, but the Constitution was not ratified until 1957. However, Mahathir was born in 1925. In 1925, your race was your father’s race. So how could Mahathir be a “born Malay” from the time he was born until he was 32 in 1957 when neither his father, grandfather, or great-grandfather were Malays?
If there is doubt about your race, the people who should actually testify to your race are your relatives. If someone says you are a different race than you claim, then you should ask your uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandfathers, grandmothers, and great uncles to testify to your race. They, of all people, can dispel any doubt about your ancestry by saying something like, “I am his cousin, niece, or nephew, and I am of such and such race. As a person of such and such race, I will testify that he is also of the same race as me because he is my relative.”
Mahathir has 9 elder brothers. Based on this alone, he should have dozens or even hundreds of cousins, nephews and nieces in the country. Considering that if he is a real Malay and not just a constitutional Malay, why doesn’t he bring his cousins, nephews and nieces to the court to testify about his ancestors? Why does he always testify about his ancestors alone?
Besides, why does Mahathir always have to add that he is a Malay, because “According to Article 160, ‘Malay’ means a person who professes Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language and observes Malay customs.” If he is so confident in his Malay identity, why does he always insist that he is a constitutional Malay to support his Malay identity? Apart from Mahathir, have you ever seen or heard of other true Malays using the constitution to support their Malay identity?
According to Einstein, truth is something that stands the test of experience.
Look at Mahathir’s face and compare it with the face of the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi VijayanIf Mahathir is a “pure Malay” for at least two generations, then why is he so similar to Vijiyan, a Malayali from Kerala?
Also, look at the way Mahathir speaks, especially in English. What do you pick up from his accent and pronunciation? Does he sound like a Malay speaking English or an Indian speaking English? Even Mahathir’s famously sarcastic and cynical “I leave it to you” is more like an Indian than a Malay instinct. The difference between the degree of sarcasm and cynicism in an Indian’s and a Malay’s expression is as stark as the difference in the taste of a curry made by a Malay and an Indian. The degree of sarcasm and cynicism shown in Mahathir’s expression is actually rare among Malays, but common among Indians. Isn’t it strange that a man who claims to be a “pure Malay” for at least two generations still speaks with an Indian accent and uses sarcasm and cynicism in a different way than a Malay?
The fact that he gets so defensive and sensitive when people talk about Mahathir’s race that he spends a great deal of time addressing it, sometimes even going so far as to sue people if they don’t accept his version of the story, also suggests what his ancestry might be.
If his ancestors were who he claimed to be, and if people doubted it, why couldn’t he just shrug it off and ignore it?
Tunku’s mother and wife were both Thai, but I doubt he would be very offended if you said he was Thai and not Malay because of this. Tunku would not care because he knew deep down that it was not true.
Anwar is said to have Indian blood in him but he happily dances to MGR’s songs, not caring if people say he is more Indian than Malay. Anwar doesn’t care because if anyone accuses him of being a fake Indian, he just laughs.
“We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.”
If we tell the truth, even if a million people drown out our voices, we will not be shaken; if we lie, even if a million people repeat our words, just one dissenting voice is enough to upset us.
Truth be told, Mahathir’s racial issues do not matter to anyone other than himself. Whether he wants to honor his ancestors is entirely up to him.
If that’s the case, you might ask, why would I write a 1500 word article on this topic?
Well, I guess I’ve always wondered how Mahathir knew the Indians Disloyalty to the countryAs he said in an interview not long ago, no research or investigation has actually been done on the matter.
Well, I think Mahathir does not need to study or learn to talk about how loyal Indians are to their country because Mahathir knows through direct experience how loyal Indians are to their country.
After all, an Indian does not need to ask others whether he is loyal to his country. All an Indian needs to do is ask himself and the answer will come to him naturally.
I guess that’s why Mahathir also thinks that the non-Malays in the country Should be assimilated Integrate into Malay society and form his envisioned national concept of “Malaysian nation”.
He probably believed this because that’s what he did.
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