In a recent interview with FMT, he said Umno’s stranglehold on rural Malays was a reality that the opposition should come to terms with.
“People love winners,” he said. “People will support winners. People will never fight and try to shore up losers.
“From the winners, they can get what they need. In the rural areas, they have been getting attention from Umno. Umno is always on the ground. That’s why even PAS cannot dislodge it from the rural areas.”
He said the Malays, like the Chinese, would vote for people who they believed would take care of their interests.
“I think they know which side of the bread is buttered. You’re not talking about Malays of 1957, but Malays of 2018,” he said, noting that today’s Malays had seen facilities such as schools and colleges built for them.
Tengku Razaleigh, often referred to as Ku Li, is the longest serving MP in Malaysia, having represented Gua Musang for close to five decades.
He said rapid urbanisation had not made the majority of Malays any less rural, adding that a sizeable number of them live in towns and cities out of necessity.
“It’s not because they feel at home living in urban areas, although the young are accommodating themselves to this new change of life,” he said. “But the young also listen to their old folks. They never go against their parents. If the father says Umno, then Umno lah.”
He made his remarks as an elaboration of his view that a crowded opposition field at the coming general election would be favourable to Umno.
Three opposition parties contesting the polls – PAS, PPBM and Amanah – are Malay-based, while PKR is a predominantly Malay multiracial party.
Excepts from the interview:
FMT: You recently said that with so many opposition parties throwing their hats into the ring, Barisan Nasional has a better chance.
Ku Li: I was talking about influence.
FMT: But this election is going to be about how the Malays are going to vote.
Ku Li: Is it run like that? You see, DAP is popular because it’s in the urban seats, predominantly Chinese and non-Malay seats. You can’t blame the Chinese for supporting candidates put up by DAP, for instance.
FMT: The fight will be for the Malay vote in non-Malay areas. The argument is that besides Umno and PAS, there are are now PPBM, Amanah and PKR going after the Malay votes. There are two schools of thought: one, the Umno bloc is solid and will take advantage of this. But the other school of thought says Malays have been quiet and we don’t know which side they are going to support.
Ku Li: I think they know which side of the bread is buttered. You’re not talking about Malays of 1957, but Malays of 2018. And they have the schools, colleges, and the crowd. The crowd, before independence, were people who had never seen schools.
FMT: But can we say it could work against Umno as well, if there is a crowded field among the opposition?
Ku Li: People love winners. People will support winners. People will never fight and try to shore up losers. From the winners, they can get what they need. In the rural areas, they have been getting attention from Umno. Umno is always on the ground. That’s why even PAS cannot dislodge it from the rural areas.
Although a sizeable population have moved to urban areas, because of education, better infrastructure, job opportunities, the tradition is still with the rural areas. And the rural areas are still very “kampungi” and very Malay. And therefore they will stick to that because they feel safer there.
Here, they come but they don’t know how to live in urban areas. You don’t see Malays living in the urban areas. They live in flats, yes, but it’s out of necessity. It’s not because they feel at home living in urban areas, although the young are accommodating themselves to this new change of life. But the young also listen to their old folks. They never go against their parents. If the father says Umno, then Umno lah (laughs).