GEORGE TOWN (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has slammed critics that accuse him of not wanting to admit that he is a Chinese.
"Recently, MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) criticised me for not wanting to admit that I am Chinese," said Mr Lim.
"I am saying that I am Malaysian first, but I am Chinese too. Even this they find fault.
"This is really playing the racial game," he said at a press conference after launching a pictorial book on the aftermath of the landslides last November at Penang Hill on Saturday (July 28).
The book is titled Healing Penang Hill.
On May 12, Mr Lim said "I'm Malaysian, I don't see myself as a Chinese" when responding to a question about being the first Chinese to be made Finance Minister after 44 years.
Lim then spoke about being criticised over a statement on Israel.
"I issued a statement on Israel and criticised the position of the Israeli regime," he said
"Even then, the MCA criticised me for selling out my own principles as I was more concerned for the Palestinians than the Chinese.
"Are we really going to be tied down by racial sentiments to the point of losing our humanity?"
It was reported on July 22 that the DAP (Democratic Action Party) had criticised the Israeli Knesset for passing the "Jewish national law".
