Dr Mahathir Mohamad has delivered a scathing indictment on the Malays, calling them “lazy” and lamenting that he failed to change them despite attempting to do so for two decades.

“No matter how stupid you are, like I was, if you study a lot and repeatedly do it, you will eventually become good at it,” he added.

Mahathir was speaking at the launching of a book “Wahai Melayu” written by Anas Zubedy.

He then went on to call on the Malays to discard their “lazy” attitude if they do not want to be “poor in a rich country”.

“They say, ‘don’t see the Malays as being lazy’. I like to look at people in the face and tell the truth. Malays are lazy,” the octogenarian said.

Mahathir also said that Malays do not have enough “integrity” in handling money, another reason that their credibility is eroded.

“I run a bread shop now, after my retirement. And I had to fire my manager because they tried to take some money on the side. I experienced this myself,” he said.

Whatever the Malays do, Mahathir added, would affect their race as well.