KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29: Malay Muslims are insignificant and incompetent and depend on other races to build Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday.

The Malay-Muslim-in-chief gave this withering assessment of his own people in a speech at a conference on “Mind-Opening of the Malay Muslims”, the official Bernama news agency reported.

The prime minister, 76, who has ruled for more than 20 years, said the Malay Muslim community should be open-minded enough to accept what was obvious and the truth.

“What is obvious and the truth now is the insignificance of the Malay Muslims and their incompetence.

“What is obvious and the truth is that they, in their own country, have to depend on other races to build up the country’s prosperity, and various affairs of the community are planned and implemented by other races.”—AFP