Mahathir Allegedly Made Discriminatory Remarks & Contradicts Himself
This probably shouldn’t come as anything new — the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir making discriminatory and illogical remarks.
This time, it was during an address to the Cambridge Union at The University of Cambridge in UK on 16 Jun.
A Singaporean Cambridge undergraduate wrote a lengthy post on Facebook detailing the Prime Minister’s ‘errors. Among them — discriminatory remarks against Jewish people, self-contradictions and garbled justifications for his views.
The student had listed them quite clearly, so much so that Malaysians in the comments agreed with him and expressed embarrassment at their leader.
Also according to this student, he had actually looked up to Dr Mahathir before. But after the talk, his impression of the 93-year-old man swiftly inverted.
Discriminatory and self-contradictory remarks
First, discriminatory remarks.
Dr Mahathir called gay marriage “regressive”, saying that marriage is about procreation. If there is procreation, there shouldn’t be marriage. When the moderator questioned him if he thought that infertile people, since they can’t procreate, should be barred from marriage too, he changed his explanation — “marriage must be between man and woman.”
He also implied during his speech that nearly all Jewish people were bad, save the few he knew. And he said this in front of his interviewer who is of Jewish descent.
The Prime Minister also had plenty of self-contradictory statements.
He said that Malaysia needed to learn from the East. Someone pointed out that one of the countries in the East, Taiwan, has legalised gay marriage — shouldn’t Malaysia be doing the same then? Dr Mahathir replied at once, without much thought if any at all, that the idea is “regressive”.
Invitees among the audience cheered him
According to the student, there were a number of senior Malaysian officials in the audience.
All of them laughed and cheered Dr Mahathir even though his remarks were highly discriminatory and at times senseless. All part of the political game, we suppose.
And no surprise, Malaysian newspapers praised him to the moon.
Malaysians embarrassed by their prime minister
The Facebook post attracted a number of Malaysians in the comments.
One Malaysian echoed the sentiment that Dr Mahathir is a “racist, homophobe (and) egomaniac.”
Another expressed his disgust and disappointment in the audience members who clapped for Dr Mahathir.
One brought up briefly the 1988 Constitutional Crisis, the instigation of which Dr Mahathir played a big role.
Finally, one apologised on behalf of Malaysians for the many unfair comments made by others.
Hopefully, Dr Mahathir’s self-contradictory inclinations work out for us i.e. he says we’re cheating Malaysia of water, but will continue supplying us with it.
Featured image from The Nation.
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