KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Malays fought to free the country from the British while non-Malays who later joined the bid for independence were motivated by their own interests, former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad was reported as saying by news portal Malaysiakini.

Abdul Hamid said Malays had “demanded independence” as some of their number died fighting communists during the early years of the period that marked the fight against communists, stretching from 1948 to 1960.

In contrast, non-Malays decided to push for independence only after realising that it was imminent and will protect their interests, he added.

“See, even the aims are different. The Malays fought for independence to free the country while the non-Malays did it to safeguard their interests after independence,” he was quoted saying in a seminar on Islam and Islamic teachings at the Universiti Selangor today.

Abdul Hamid reportedly claimed that the Federation of Malaya or pre-independence Peninsular Malaysia should have been given back to Malays.

“But no, the Malays were asked to share their powers. Even then the Malays were asked to sacrifice their rights for so-called unity,” said Abdul Hamid, who is the chairman of the National Unity Front (NUF) — a coalition of 55 Malay groups including the right wing groups, Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).

Malaya achieved independence in 1957 and later formed Malaysia together with Sabah and Sarawak in 1963.

Since then, the Malay-based party Umno has ruled Malaysia together with its coalition partners in Barisan Nasional — formerly known as Alliance (Perikatan).

Abdul Hamid said the BN government received the backing of Malaysians across all ethnic groups, but claimed that the many Chinese prefer the federal opposition.

“It has the support of both the Malays and non-Malays although most Chinese always support the opposition. They (the Chinese) always want more,” he said.