Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said that his recent comments on Malay lands, which sparked huge controversy in Singapore, were taken ‘out of context’.
Earlier, in his speech on Sunday, which was uploaded online by Astro Awani, Dr Mahathir said that historically, Malay lands stretched from the Isthmus of Kra in southern Thailand to the Riau Islands.
“We should demand not just that Pedra Branca, or Pulau Batu Puteh, be returned to us, instead we should also demand for the return of Singapore and the Riau Islands to Malaysia as Malay lands,” he said to audible applause from his audience.
“But today, we are left with only the peninsula… I wonder whether we will continue to own this peninsula. I am worried for the future of Malays, whether the peninsula land will also be owned by another party,” he added.
In his recent Facebook post titled ‘OUT OF CONTEXT’
Dr Mahathir wrote, “I am not asking Malaysia to claim the land that we had lost. I am trying to point out that we are so concerned over losing a table-size rock but never about bigger parts of Malaysia when they were taken from us.”
“It was the mistake of the Johor government to deny that the rock belonged to Johor. Had that denial not been made, there would be no dispute now,” he said.
“We should be grateful that the world court awarded Pulau Ligitan and Sipadan to us. They are much more valuable than Pulau Batu Puteh – just a rock outcrop,” he added.
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