Zam: LKY wanted to scare the Chinese
Malaysiakini
Sep 29, 2006

Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had ulterior motives when he accused Malaysia  and Indonesia of marginalising the Chinese, said Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin.

"I think he wanted to scare the Chinese, to make them feel that the wealth that they have amassed can never be safe in the region," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

The minister, who was speaking to reporters in Beijing, is currently on a three-day working visit to China.

Zainuddin said Malaysia had never marginalised its Chinese community even when there was an opportunity to do so such as in the aftermath of the May 13 incident in 1969.

"The prime minister then, Tunku Abdul Rahman, rejected such a notion. We have also never confiscated any assets of the Chinese community.

"Instead, we broadened their participation in the government by expanding the Alliance to form the Barisan Nasional.

More schools

Today, he said Malaysia has more Chinese schools than Singapore and the newspaper with the biggest circulation in the country is a Chinese language newspaper.

"Lee Kuan Yew, on the other hand, has systematically killed Chinese culture by disallowing many Chinese practices. He also closed down Nanyang University and Ngee Ann College," he added.

Zainuddin said Lee must be congratulated for changing the Chinese identity in the island state such that it had become unrecognisable.

He called on Chinese newspapers in Malaysia not to be taken in by Lee's statement to the extent of playing up Chinese chauvinism and endangering Malaysia's racial harmony.

The government yesterday summoned the Singaporean ambassador and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who labelled Lee's remarks as unjustified, said he had sent a letter to the Singapore government.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said as a good neighbour, Singapore should apologise.