Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad holds a well-known view: He is of the view that the local Malay population must work harder to compete with the other races economically.

On March 30, however, Mahathir took to issuing what was perhaps one of his strongest statements against the country's bumiputera population, in an interview with Focus Malaysia, a weekly Malaysian publication for business.

Malay community lacks financial sense

Mahathir said the Malay community was not business-oriented relative to the other races as they did not know how to handle money, The Malay Mail reported.

Mahathir said:

"As far as I can see, the Bumiputeras are not business oriented, while the other communities are very business oriented. The Bumiputeras still do not know how to handle or manage money, because money to them is something to spend, not to invest."

Elaborating on his remarks, Mahathir said this resulted in frivolous spending by the community, even when the money they borrowed was for capital purposes.

"So even when they borrow money for capital, part of the money is spent on buying things that have nothing to do with the business."

Malay businesses do not receive contracts from the private or public sector

Mahathir further explained that this weakness contributed the to the poor performance of Malay businesses, according to The Malay Mail.

One such symptom of this weakness was that within the private sector, Malay businesses rarely received contracts in the private sector, unless they were supposedly attached to a non-Malay company.

"Invariably, if anyone in the private sector wants to build a bridge, the Malay companies never get it, except when they are attached to some non-Malay companies."

Mahathir added that it was a shame such an alleged practice was not questioned.

Another symptom was that Malay businesses also tended to fail without the practices of direct negotiation or limited tenders.

Mahathir highlighted that his administration had since decided not to engage in direct negotiation with companies, especially Malay companies.

He then segued into issuing a warning that the consequence of all this was a widening of the disparity between the Malays and non-Malays.

"The private sector contracts do not go to the Malays and the government contracts also do not go to the Malays. What you are going to see is greater disparity between the races."

Malays must have discipline to prosper

Mahathir added that the Malays needed to realise that it is only through discipline they can conduct business and prosper, the Malay Mail further highlighted.

"The best thing is for the Malays to realise that only through business can they prosper and business requires discipline."

He added that he was optimistic about the younger generation of Bumiputeras as they showed promise.

Mahathir explained that his hope was that the younger generation would be able to change their value systems, become more adept at business, and ultimately, reduce the disparity.

As per Mahathir:

"They can even design airplanes. The younger people give us much hope but they must also remember that they are doing business to also reduce the disparity of income between the Bumiputera and the others."

Top image from Mahathir Facebook