Learn from Chinese politics, Khaled says

KUALA LUMPUR - Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin has called on Malays to learn from the political practices of the Chinese community, pointing to their ability to stay united on communal issues despite being split across different parties.

Speaking at the 2026 Umno general assembly, Khaled said there was an important trait in Chinese political behaviour worth paying attention to.

"They may be in different parties, but they never focus on their differences. They may argue with each other, but they are never truly divided," he said.

He cited the Chinese community's advocacy on issues such as Chinese vernacular schools, recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), the interests of Kampung Baru and other matters concerning the community's welfare.

"When there's an issue involving the future and interests of the Chinese community, some will shout, some will whisper, but they never stop speaking up together. That is truly their strength," Khaled said, adding the Malays needed to build the same kind of collective strength.

Earlier, Khaled warned that continued Malay political disunity risks eroding the community's standing not just in the peninsula, but in the eyes of its partners in Sabah and Sarawak, potentially weakening the peninsula's legitimacy to continue leading the country.

He stressed that Umno had reached a point where it must avoid all forms of Malay disunity.

"A disunited Malay community is something that harms the interests of the race and the nation. It weakens us, costs us and will certainly threaten our position as the dominant race in the long run," he said.

He said the Malay unity championed by Umno rested on several key principles. First, he said, it was not merely a slogan or a brand.

"We don't need all these brands and slogans. It is a political commitment to strengthen the standing of the Malay race - a unity that transcends time, age and certainly political ideology," he said.

Khaled said this unity had to be built with a willingness to set aside past mistakes, driven by the understanding that uniting the race was both a religious and constitutional obligation, given the centrality of Malay interests in the Federal Constitution.

"If the Malays are divided, the true spirit of the Constitution will also falter. When Malays themselves are not united, it becomes difficult for the Constitution's aspirations to be translated and implemented," he said.

Second, he said, Malay unity was the only way to restore Malay political power and standing, noting that despite the proliferation of Malay political parties today, that power had not improved and had in fact weakened.

"There is no other way to restore Malay political power except through unity among Malays themselves," he said, calling on all Malays to return to a concerted effort to consolidate that power so Malay politics could remain strong.

Third, Khaled said Malay unity was essential to ensuring that Malay political power continued to be respected by Umno's partners in Sabah and Sarawak, which he said gave the peninsula legitimacy to continue steering the federation.

"We fully acknowledge that Sabah and Sarawak have always supported and given their best in helping realise what we have planned and worked towards," he said.

However, he warned that as Malay political power became increasingly fractured and divided, it exposed weakness, as a Malay political force, as the dominant race and as a credible and capable governing power.