Question: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad always attacks you by calling you the "fourth floor boy"...

Answer: (Sigh) I have nothing to say. I don't know what to say.

Q: Do you think that he is still an influential man in UMNO?

A: I don't know, I don't know... I don't know what to say about him.

Q: But it seems that he is still highly supported by the supreme council during the UMNO General Assembly?

A: Yeah, It seems so.

Q: In fact, when Pak Lah was still the Prime Minister, what kind of role were you playing? There were a lot of accusations against you.

A: When he became the Prime Minister, I worked for him for less than a year. I left and I never made inquiry about anything.

However, many still looked for me to convey messages for them; I was so tired of it. I don't work for him anymore; these are none of my business.

Among these people, many thought that I was close to Pak Lah and they even said that I inbfluenced him. These people, who wanted me to convey messages for them, were those who turned around and attacked me. I don't want to name them as everything is over.

Q: Was it an advantage for you when Pak Lah was still the Prime Minister?

A: I never thought whether it was an advantage. Some said I would be defeated in the party elections after his resignation, but I still meet the delegates to gain their support, it doesn't matter to me.

In the end, it would be a personal assessment after all.

Just like now, others judge on performance. I'm no longer the Prime Minister's son-in-law.

Q: How did you feel when Pak Lah stepped down?

A: A feeling of relief. I breathed a sigh of relief as there would be no pressure for him and his family anymore.

Q: Were you dejected?

A: No, we accepted and supported his decision. At the same time, it was a change for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to lead, which is good for the country, as well as the party. All of us support the new leader.

Q: Is it something good to you?

A: I don't know whether it is good to me. The important thing is, Pak Lah's decision is good for the country and the party. I told Datuk Seri Najib that I will always support him while Pak Lah also told me that I must support Najib.

I have a strong party spirit and I'll not fight with the leaders.

Although some of Najib's policies are different from Pak Lah's, we are not qualified to criticise him as he is the leader.

Youths of different races living in their own world

Q: Don't you think when Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein or you brandish the keris at the UMNO Youth General Assembly it would be an affront to non-Malays that led to BN's defeat in the general election?

A: BN's poor performance in the general elections was caused by many factors. You can't say that a single event has caused non-Malays not to support BN. We need to look into bigger issues, including religious issues and places of worship. We must resolve these problems.

Perhaps, the UMNO Youth General Assembly and the move of waving the keris was an issue but I don't think it was the reason for BN's failure. I don't want to simply say: "Alright! We resolve this problem and all the problems are solved", it is not the case. We must resolve the real problems like religious conversion, religion, places of worhsip , education and Chinese education issues.

Our problem is, we lack of communications (with one another). Malays talk to Malays; Chinese talk to Chinese and Indians talk to Indians. Each racial group gets along only with those who are same race and live in their own world.

You try and ask a Chinese, how many Malay friends he has? And ask a Malay how many Chinese friends he has? In fact, we are all in different modes. My best friend is a Chinese and you say that I'm a racist.

Q: In your opinion, how should we overcome this phenomenon?

A: As a politician, we must set an example to demonstrate the spirit of 1Malaysia.

Q: After the dialogue with eight Malaysian Chinese youth organisations, what issues do you think they are concerned with the most?

A: They are concerned about political issues, including the Internal Security Act (ISA), issues about the police and the freedom of speech. They are also concerned about education issues like scholarships, universities quota and education policies. All of us know these problems but I wish to exchange views with them. Thus, we started such kind of dialogue. Hopefully, we can understand each other more.

UMNO is now having a better understanding about the Chinese community while MCA understands the Malay community better. As for the Opposition, they avoid these problems and sweep them under the carpet. This is very dangerous. If they come into power one day, these problems will rise.

They are unable to reach a consensus in many issues like the Islamic state and meritocracy.

They are just looking for the similarities in differences and deliberately ignore the real problems. For them, it is to hide and obtain power first and solve the problems later.

They can't even reach a consensus about who is going to be the Prime Minister if they win the general elections. They can't even form the shadow cabinet. At least these things are clear in BN, we have a set of formula.

Q: After meeting the eight Malaysian Chinese youth organisations, do you think that their views and wishes are different from Malays?

A: In fact, we are all the same. They are looking from the point of view of their racial groups and there is no common view at all. I hope to establish a common ground but it is a very difficult task as they do not embody the lifestyle of 1Malaysia!

However, you say that they are young people who embody the spirit of 1Malaysia and I'm a racist instead?

Q: There must be common views in some issues like good governance and anti-corruption?

A: No problem, they want to have good governance and strong anti-corruption system, these problems are easy to solve. The most difficult problems are education, racial, economic, New Economic Policy and university quota issues. Other problems are very easy.

It is a big problem when they don't understand other people's thought.

For example, when I questioned DAP in the Parliament that as you claim that you are a multi-racial party, how many Malay members and leaders do you have? At least for UMNO, MCA and MIC, it is clear that we are race-based parties.

I'm not asking you to create a Malaysian nation, but at least there is a common ground in terms of ideology, you have to embody the spirit of Malaysian.

Take scholarship as an example, how are we going to solve the problem? We must find a new solution to ensure that those with outstanding results and poor students can get the scholarship and at the same time, to ensure an adequate amount for the Bumiputera.

Why can't we allocate more money for scholarships? I would rather spend a billion ringgit for scholarships than using the same amount to build a stadium that may collapse at any time.

Q:But when we look at the young support of Pakatan Rakyat, it seems that the gap among them is less serious. Some Pakatan Rakyat's policies are supported by young people of different races. Why are UMNO policies not supported by other races?

A: Because we need to take care of a wide area. The people are having a preconceived impression about UMNO. So we have to do more. But for Pakatan Rakyat, their past is like a piece of white paper. They never ruled and the people can accept everything they do.

As for UMNO, if we want to change, people will ask: "You did it this way, why do you want to change now?"

Their acceptance for Pakatan Rakyat is higher than UMNO. We have to take a long period of time to prove or sincerity when we want to change.

Q: But many people believe that UMNO still focuses on racial issues?

A: That's why I said we need time to prove. It is not easy to change a party's culture after all. Moreover, UMNO, MCA and MIC have always been race-based parties. Such a feature can never be eliminated, unless we can become one political party one day. But before that, these parties are still race-based parties. The interests of all would be our starting point. If we want to change, there must be members directly under BN, this is a suggestion I made before.

Only direct membership can weaken the racial feature of UMNO, MCA and MIC.

I made the suggestion and it depends on BN leaders to decide whether to accept it. I believe that the suggestion has a certain importance that makes them consider about it.

Q: But it seems that Pakatan Rakyat has done it first.

A: Not exactly. Pakatan Rakyat is not even a registered organisation.

BN is a legally registered organisation while Pakatan Rakyat dare not even to form a shadow cabinet, and they dare not name it.

They put aside a lot of problems and just want to win political power. This is very dangerous. They are unable to show the people that they are ready and they are unable to make it clear that who is going to be the people's Prime Minister.

Supporting the two-lparty system

Q: Do you support the two-party system?

A: The two-party system is good for Malaysians; at least they have a choice.

Q: When there is a choice, the situation will be healthier and more democratic. I believe the two-party system will give rise to competition and makes BN to work harder.

We are now working very hard because of the competition.

Q: Do you think that BN will be able to gain Chinese, particularly the young people's support in the next general elections?

A: I'm confident of gaining Chinese youths' support but we must take actions to prove our sincerity. I understand that Chinese young voters do not like to listen to any commitment but they want to see actions from the government. I know I can't change their minds just through interviews.

However, we are going to use the coming two to three years to prove our change and sincerity by actions, we believe that we can win support by doing so.

Now, we let you know what we want to do and it is up to you to decide whether you still want us in the next general elections.

BN Youths should be more tolerant. We don't want them to judge now, but please evaluate us in the next general elections.

Opposing the single stream education system

Q: But they still want to see fairer policy changes, which is the only way to persuade them to support BN.

A: The government has been working very hard to make policy changes, that's why I said we need time to see the results. Next would be the change in scholarship and education policies.

In terms of teaching mathematics and science in English, my stand is very firm. I do not support the policy. Mathematics and science must be taught in mother tongues.

I also stress that I don't agree with the single stream education system. The existing multi-stream schools must be retained and I don't even agree with the vision school policy. I believe that student of different streams can communicate and exchange views through extra-curricular activities. The government must allocate more money to run activities. At the same time, we must improve the overall education policy.

Q: Don't you worry that your view may be opposed by conservative Malays?

A: I don't worry about. If they want to oppose it, I'm ready to face it. I'll do it if I think it is the right thing to do.

We could have got an A+ but now, we got only a C

Q: What is your vision of the country?

A: I think there is still unlimited potential in this country waiting to be developed.

We are not fully developed in all aspects today. We could have got an A+ but now, we got only a C, not even reached the level of outstanding.

It is because we still have many unresolved problems. Therefore, we must first resolve the problems. It is necessary to do so as we have a common goal, a common will. I don't want to see young people migrate to foreign countries because they are disappointed at the country, not only Chinese and Indians, but as well Malays. Even if they have to work abroad, I hope they will return. Politics must too, be reformed as the current politics is too intense.

Q: But some people think that nowadays, we cannot take the race-based path but BN member parties are still race-based, how are you going to change this?

A: That's why I make the direct membership suggestion to weaken the racie feature. This cannot be done overnight. Instead, we must change step by step. I hope to see the implementation of it before I die. (By TAY TIAN YAN and HWN YAUL LEN/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily)

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