Mahathir Mohamad
“ He’s not Malay by birth”
He’s Indian born to Malayali (Kerala) father declares Malaysian website after he got himself tangled in the latest race flap.
Sep 7, 2008

MalaysianUnplug
Mahathir Kept Hidden His Little Secret - The Indian Muslim

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad started life NOT as a Malay but a Malayali -the people of Kerala in south INDIA, where his father came from.

At university in Singapore, Mahathir was listed as an INDIAN.

Perhaps this explains why Mahathir became MORE Malay than many Malays, all the while pursuing a politics which had scant time for Malay instincts for consensus and compromise.

(Note: Mahathir was born and named as Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty @Mahathir Mohamed. Mahathir's father, (Iskandar Kutty) was a school teacher of Indian origin, specifically Malayalee (people who speak Malayalam), NOT to be confused with Malay, having migrated from the southern state of Kerala, while his mother was a Malay. - Malaysian Unplug)

Mahathir is full of paradoxes on racial issues. Many of his policies have had the effect of reducing the racial element in government decisions, watering down the agenda to advance Malay interests. As a result he is well regarded by many in the Chinese business community.

Mahathir has been quick to promote himself as the embodiment of "Asian" identity and values, with diatribes against the west, usually couched in racial terms.

Yet, despite his trumpeting of Asian identity, Mahathir appears ashamed to admit his Indian heritage.

In his new book, A New Deal for Asia, he writes about his father in such a way as to imply that he was a Malay dedicated to the improvement of his fellow Malays rather than the hard-working Indian immigrant and government servant that he was.

No mention of Mahathir's Indian Muslim background ever appears in the media. The subject is taboo.
-Philip Bowring.

(Dr. Mahathir anegered many non-Malays when he said Malay leaders and Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail Should not apologise for saying Chinese Malaysians are "squatters").

http://malaysianunplug.blogspot.com/