Malaysian Malaysia

During these years, the British declined to employ and resettle Malays away from their traditional villages, as they preferred to harvest nearby paddy fields and engage in artisanal fishing and were reluctant to work and move to new settlements around the then-newly formed tin mines and rubber plantations.

As a result, the British preferred to import and employ Chinese and Indian emigrants instead, thus preventing any relocation or lifestyle disturbances to the Malays and other aborigines.

Although Lee Kuan Yew supported Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak Hussein and other primary leaders of UMNO who wanted a gradual transition to non-communal politics, he was wary of the secondary leaders of UMNO, who he believed used Malay special rights as a red herring to divide the population along racial lines.

Critics have described such affirmative action as racial discrimination against other Malaysian citizens, aimed at promoting ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy).

Of the 50.1% percent Malays in Malaysia today,[2] about one-third are comparatively new immigrants like the secretary-general of UMNO, Dato' Syed Ja'afar Albar, who came to Malaya from Indonesia just before the war at the age of more than thirty.

He asserted that using special rights as a crutch would open up a lot of loopholes which would inevitably lead to a racial and class segregation in the population which would be detrimental to Malaysia as it could be exploited to benefit the elite Malay aristocrats.

[citation needed] Those historic immigrants and their descendants allowed to remain after the nation achieved independence should understand their presence was a privilege, not a right.

The argument was made in spite of the existence of Malay-Chinese Peranakans since the late 18th century, as well as regular Chinese merchant presence in Malaya long before the arrival of the British.

Then acting UMNO Youth Chief Hishamuddin Hussein responded by warning not to "play with fire," and accused Lim of politicising an issue that had been decided at independence with the social contract.

[4] However, others criticised Ghani, with Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak stating: "It (Bangsa Malaysia) does not question the special rights of the Malays, our quota or anything of that sort.

"[5] In 2023, UMNO Supreme Council member Nur Jazlan Mohamed called for DAP to drop the slogan “Malaysian Malaysia” from its constitution if it wants to gain support from the Malays.