SIBU, June 29: Sarawakians of Chinese ethnicity met here disagree with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s assertion that the Chinese are a “wealthy lot.”
On June 26, Dr Mahathir in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Asia Times was reported as saying Malaysian Chinese are a “wealthy lot” with the majority of them living in urban centres, and that it represents an “unhealthy trend.”
When asked for his views, e-hailing driver Darren Ngu said he felt that the statement by the former premier was inappropriate and illogical as there are only a fraction of Chinese who are rich, with most low or average income earners.
“I disagree with Tun’s statement. I don’t think that I am rich or else why do I have to be a driver to earn a living?” he pointed out.
A salesman who only wished to be identified as Yii concurred with Ngu.
“Not all Chinese are rich. We only know how to save money for rainy days and we don’t simply spend our money on unnecessary things,” he added.
Cafe operator Peter Tang said it was wrong to make the generalisation that all Chinese are rich.
“There are probably only one per cent of Chinese who are rich and certainly not all of them. If all Chinese are rich, then every one of them will be driving a Mercedes or Rolls-Royce car,” he opined.
“Singapore is one of the richest countries in Asia and not all Chinese there are rich. If all Chinese are rich, then all other races are poor. This is of course not correct.” — DayakDaily
