KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Barisan Nasional MP for Tanjung Karang Datuk Seri Noh Omar said today that equality for all is a step too far for Malaysia, as he defended statements, widely slammed seemingly racist, made by an ex-top judge recently.

“The DAP wanted equality for all. We can’t have this. What we can have is social justice,” Noh Omar, a former minister, said in parliament today, referring to the mainly ethnic Chinese opposition party.

Noh said that former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad had been demonised for simply defending Malay rights, claiming instead that the opposition had unfairly highlighted a selected part of Abdul Hamid’s recent speech.

“What is wrong with defending Malay rights? For the position of Islam as the country’s official religion? They are all in line with the Federal Constitution,” Noh said when debating Judges Remuneration Bill (Amendment) in the Dewan Rakyat.

According to a report by online news portal Malaysiakini, the chief justice, who served from 2007 to 2008, said that Peninsular Malaysia should have been returned to the Malays after the country attained independence in 1957.

“The non-Malays only took part in the independence movement when they saw it would be a reality and its emergence would safeguard their interest,” Abdul Hamid was quoted as saying.

His portrayal of non-Malays as a scheming, self-serving lot drew widespread condemnation from opposition and rights groups.

For Noh, though, the former top judge had merely cited “history”.

“You look at the Malayan Union. What did it (history) say? The Malayan Union was set up by the British and had wanted to give nationality to the non-Malays by jus-soli. We opposed this, but after (the) independence, we agreed to co-operate with the various races, with MCA, MIC”.

The opposition has claimed that Abdul Hamid’s involvement with and open support for ultra right-wing groups like Perkasa, which has links to the ruling Malay party Umno, have reinforced allegations of corruption in Malaysia’s legal system.

But Umno leaders, including Noh Omar, have denied the allegations.