KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — Former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has asked Singaporean Malays to direct their grievances at their leaders instead, after some in the community rejected his claims that they enjoy better quality of life compared to their Malaysian brethren.

Defending himself, the lawyer-turned-politician said that no government should institutionalise discrimination as all citizens deserve the same rights and respect.

“If I have made any Malays in Singapore angry, then I am sorry. They should take up their grievances with their leaders and try to rectify the situation,” Zaid said in his latest blog post.

“Discrimination is not to be tolerated wherever it might be. There is no justification for it at all.”

Zaid repeated his disclaimer that he did not perform any rigorous study for his observation, while he himself does not know many in the Singaporean Malay community.

“My main point was about the futility of being ‘first-class’ if you do not get ‘special treatment’ which in my book includes honest leaders, good governance and good policies,” he said.

“On the other hand, the Constitutional ‘special position’ of Malays and other native communities in Malaysia has often been used to benefit the elite and the ruling political party – and not the target communities.”

Calling it “absolute nonsense”, Zaid rubbished claims that Malays in Malaysia were marginalised last week, saying the race formed the biggest demographic group in the country and have “full control” of the government and its machinery.

Zaid compared Malaysia’s treatment of Malays to those in Singapore and said those in the island republic did not receive any “special treatment” but seemed to enjoy a better qualify of life because their leaders practised transparency and meritocracy.

His previous post was in response to a report by a news portal that he said had incorrectly interpreted his tweet last week suggesting that he did not mind Malays here being marginalised like in Singapore, as long as they do not become extremists like the Taliban.

He clarified that he meant Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is making Malays to be like the Taliban, but if Malays here grew to become like Malays in Singapore, then Zaid said he would be happy to support the embattled prime minister.

Malays make up just 13.4 per cent of the Singaporean population that is dominated by the ethnic Chinese, compared to Malaysia where they make up 50.1 per cent of the population.