Malay politics at its ‘dirtiest and most divided’

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Syed Farid Alatas

Farid, a professor at the National University of Singapore, said Malays have for years been hearing their leaders speak up for race and religion, but “now they know it is difficult to trust politicians”.

“The politicians are not speaking for the good of the rakyat (but for themselves). This is a rude awakening for them,” he told FMT.

PETALING JAYA: Malay politics is at its most divided and dirtiest in decades and there is no leader who can unite them for now, says sociologist Syed Farid Alatas.

Instead, he said, the push for integrity has to come from the rakyat themselves.
Farid also disagreed with Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s claim that he would be able to attract Malay support for Pakatan Harapan in the coming general election, stating that Mahathir may have lost the opportunity to unite the Malays after the collapse of his administration after just 22 months in February.

“Mahathir played an important role in GE14, but only as the unifying factor to raise the consciousness on 1MDB. That is no longer salient, ” he said.


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