In his latest absurd diatribe PAS leader Hadi Awang seems to have abandoned doctrine for flights of fancy. In what appears to be an attempt to explain what he views as economic backwardness in parts of the Malay community he claims that the “British put the Chinese in towns and Malays in the countryside!

When the British arrived the Malays were already in the country and under the iron control of Malay Sultans and Rajahs. Does Guru Hadi contend that there were no Chinese in the towns then existing? Does he really believe that the British shipped in millions of Chinese; after having built towns to accommodate them?

By referring to non-events of a hundred years ago Hadi is seeking to deflect attention from the fact that his own party has held the decision making role in many of Malaysia’s most backward areas in terms of prosperity for the past decades, a time when economies have boomed elsewhere.

This is not owing to lack of resources, which are abundant in both Kelantan and Terengganu, but owing to the closed minds and bossy ignorance of people like himself.  This is why the more advantaged and educated folk in urban areas tend not to vote for him.