Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the audiences at the “Semarak Merdeka” townhall in Melaka on Saturday that the Malay people are not bold enough to face challenges but when they come forward to defend their Malay rights, they are labelled as racists.

He added that such labelling does not help the Malays to be a more advanced race compared with the other races in Malaysia.