DAP's latest recruitment of national laureate A Samad Said was read positively by an Umno minister as a sign that Malaysia is breaking the barriers of race.
"This is a good thing," said Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.
In announcing the recruitment of the former Bersih co-chairperson into the party, DAP had described Samad as a "warrior of change".
Fondly known as Pak Samad, he won the prestigious South East Asia Writers Award in 1978 and was bestowed the national laureate title in 1986.
"Malaysia's democracy has advanced so much, it seems the (colour) of skin doesn't matter anymore. It is all about the ideology now," the senior cabinet minister told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview yesterday.
From now on, people should talk about being Malaysian rather than touch on their own race, he noted.
Race-based politics has been said to cause growing tension in this multi-ethnic and multi-religious country and the government has been criticised for not being able to provide the leadership to ease the strained relationships.
Nazri (photo) said the movement away from race-based politics occurred when DAP began its journey to walk side by side with PAS and PKR .
"Gone were the days when DAP was called a chauvinist Chinese party," he said.
"This is a good thing," said Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.
In announcing the recruitment of the former Bersih co-chairperson into the party, DAP had described Samad as a "warrior of change".
Fondly known as Pak Samad, he won the prestigious South East Asia Writers Award in 1978 and was bestowed the national laureate title in 1986.
"Malaysia's democracy has advanced so much, it seems the (colour) of skin doesn't matter anymore. It is all about the ideology now," the senior cabinet minister told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview yesterday.
From now on, people should talk about being Malaysian rather than touch on their own race, he noted.
Race-based politics has been said to cause growing tension in this multi-ethnic and multi-religious country and the government has been criticised for not being able to provide the leadership to ease the strained relationships.
Nazri (photo) said the movement away from race-based politics occurred when DAP began its journey to walk side by side with PAS and PKR .
"Gone were the days when DAP was called a chauvinist Chinese party," he said.
While in principle multi-ethnic, it has been labeled that, as the party leadership is dominated by Chinese.
BN, particularly Umno, has gone all out to sling mud at the party for being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
Nazri, while claiming that Umno is a moderate and open party, said Umno has difficulty to adopt multi-ethnic membership, simply because its constitution is based on upholding the cause of the Malays.
"Umno's struggle is about Malay language, Islam, Malay rulers, Malay reservation lands, Malay privilege," he said.
He, however, opined that exceptions should be given to non-Malays, willing to subscribe to the struggle of Umno.
"I think, non-Malays should be given a chance to become members, but they must subscribe to Umno's struggle," asserted the Padang Rengas MP. - M'kini
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