Amid growing talk of a power challenge within the UMNO party, Prime Minister Najib Razak raised eyebrows with comments that some see as deliberately highlighting the perceived racial bias of his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin.
At the 5th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit on Sunday, the PM was asked if he saw himself as Malay-first and Malaysian-second or vice-versa. Muhyiddin had kicked up a huge storm of anger amongst the non-Malays when he said a year ago that he was Malay-first and Malaysian-second.
Despite the jeers, the move helped Muhyiddin to gain favour with some of the Malay electorate and also with the right-wing faction in UMNO. It was Najib who had to back off his multi-racial 1 Malaysia slogan and New Economic Model.
"I won't respond in a way that will divide me and my deputy. In Malaysia, that can be very dangerous. People will say, look here, the prime minister and his deputy are not on the same page," Najib said in answer to a question from the audience.
Najib draws attention to Muhyiddin's racial glow with Malay-first M'sian-next talk
