Malays should change mindset, believe in own abilities - Rafidah Aziz

The former International Trade and Industry minister said adopting the attitude of being too dependant on the special privileges granted to them seemed to have undermined the Malays' ability to compete in an increasingly challenging era of globalisation.

She said the current living conditions of the Malay community had improved compared to the old days as a result of efforts to enhance their economic capacity and achieve balanced social position taken by the government.

"However, the mindset of the Malays has remained too reliant to the 'walking stick' (privileges) given. It is seen as 'excess baggage'.

"There are still some Malays who rely on the 'walking stick' even though the situation has improved...life is much better now, but they are still asking for more (privileges)," she said when launching the second edition of the "Liberating the Malay Mind" book, written by US-based Malaysian surgeon Dr Mohammad Bakri Musa, here today.

Rafidah said Malays should be willing to change for the betterment of the nation instead of being too dependant on others.

She said all parties, especially parents should ensure that Malay children were always trained to become more independent to pursue greater success.

"The adoption of the collective nurturing method is very important so that we can recalibrate our mind for the nation's progress," she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mohammad Bakri, 72, said the mindset of the Malays was still plagued with previous guidance, although there were some of them, who were open to current changes.

"Malays should take the opportunity to free their mind from constantly being confined to follow the status quo," he said.

Dr Mohammad Bakri said Malays can be categorised into two groups namely those who think big, as a result of reading and openness to world changes, and another comprising those with still 'locked' minds.