Pusat KOMAS strongly condemns Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi for using age-old racial rhetoric in a political speech ahead of the Negeri Sembilan elections.
The claim that Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent have ‘motherlands’ to return to, whereas the Malays only have this one—i.e., Tanah Melayu—has been populist rhetoric used by Malay supremacists since the independence of Malaya 69 years ago.
Of late, political actors such as DS Sanusi, Khairy Jamaluddin, Tun Dr Mahathir, and Tan Sri DS Hadi Awang have again repeated the cycle of using this outdated tactic in hopes of stoking hatred along racial lines and swaying the electorate.
It is unbecoming for persons of such prominence and stature, who have appealed to a diverse voter base in the past, to be undermining minorities in the same breath.
Parties such as PAS and Umno have previously called for racial unity and the rejection of these narratives, yet they continue to allow their representatives to race-bait whenever election season approaches.
Moreover, using the ‘Tanah Melayu’ narrative to describe our nation is exclusionary, as Malaysia is more than just the Peninsula. Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Tanggau has previously warned that these same politicians have treated Sabah and Sarawak as an ‘extension of Tanah Melayu’ through this rhetoric.
Malaysia has always been a multiethnic nation, even since pre-colonisation. The administrative clumping of ethnicities under large racial umbrellas massively undermines the ethnic diversity of our nation and ignores how centuries of migration have shaped her.
Malaysia, in its conception, equalized citizenship for all without exception, a fact that cannot be disputed through any historical lens. While the Constitution ensures the special position of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak, it was included as an economic equalizing measure—not one to facilitate apartheid by instituting separate standards of status on account of ethnic origin.
As such, Pusat KOMAS reminds Malaysians that racial supremacy should not factor into decision-making at the polls. KOMAS also calls upon PDRM to take action against individuals who continually use divisive narratives during and beyond elections.
Malaysia, led by the Madani government, must take a stand against racism and not rely constantly on independent actors to speak up against it. Pusat KOMAS appeals to contesting parties and candidates to refrain from using such divisive language during elections and instead let their manifestos do the work.
We call upon all Malaysians to act in the spirit of a healthy democracy by promoting inclusivity. – July 27, 2026
Pusat KOMAS is a civil society organisation for human rights set up in August 1993 that advocates for social cohesion through non-discrimination.