He says many non-Malays still retain their own cultural identity.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has used the example of the Chinese community using chopsticks to highlight the challenges in assimilating the non-Malay population in the country.
Mahathir said Indonesia was able to assimilate its Chinese population because it was relatively small, while non-Malays in Malaysia made up a substantial proportion of the population.
"They (Chinese in Malaysia) preserve their own community, their own customs, their own ways.
"For example, the Chinese eat with chopsticks, they don't eat with their hands. They have not adopted the Malaysian way of eating food.
"They retained the chopstick which is an identity with China, not with Malaysia, and many other things," he said during a dialogue session at the launch of his new memoir "Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia".
Communities still identify with origin country
Mahathir also said there is still a tendency for communities here to identify with their country of origin, despite generations of being born and raised in Malaysia.
As a result, he argued it had resulted in separation among the people.
"Because of this identity with race on the ground among the people, you cannot have a multi-racial party that is trusted by everyone.
"Politics in Malaysia has always been based on race," he said, however, noting that there are many Indians and Arabs who "become Malays" by sacrificing their own ethnic identities to adopt the Malay language, customs and names.
"They were accepted by the Malays as Malays even though it's obvious they are not Malays.
"But others do not want to identify themselves as Malays. That is the problem," said Mahathir.
He was initially asked to share his motivation of forming Pejuang as another Malay-based party after leaving Bersatu, the party he founded as an Umno-splinter after a fallout with former premier Najib Abdul Razak.
'German Eisenhower fought the Nazis'
Meanwhile, Mahathir claimed that, unlike their great-grandfathers who came to Malaya, the younger generations of Chinese were born in Malaysia but yet still maintain links to China.
"So this divides the people. This is the Chinese Malaysian, this is Indian Malaysian, this is Malay. Because of that, they cannot be assimilated.
"In other multi-racial countries, once they adopt citizenship of a country they identify themselves only with that country and no longer with where their grandfathers came from," he said.
Mahathir also cited the example of America's former president Dwight David Eisenhower who, prior to assuming office as the 34th president in January 1953, was a high-ranking military officer appointed to lead the charge against Germany in World War II.
He said Eisenhower had led America's troops against the Germans despite being of German descent, "because he sees himself as an American".
"But here we still have people looking back to the old country where they came from and adopting some practices there," said Mahathir.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has used the example of the Chinese community using chopsticks to highlight the challenges in assimilating the non-Malay population in the country.
Mahathir said Indonesia was able to assimilate its Chinese population because it was relatively small, while non-Malays in Malaysia made up a substantial proportion of the population.
"They (Chinese in Malaysia) preserve their own community, their own customs, their own ways.
"For example, the Chinese eat with chopsticks, they don't eat with their hands. They have not adopted the Malaysian way of eating food.
"They retained the chopstick which is an identity with China, not with Malaysia, and many other things," he said during a dialogue session at the launch of his new memoir "Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia".
Communities still identify with origin country
Mahathir also said there is still a tendency for communities here to identify with their country of origin, despite generations of being born and raised in Malaysia.
As a result, he argued it had resulted in separation among the people.
"Because of this identity with race on the ground among the people, you cannot have a multi-racial party that is trusted by everyone.
"Politics in Malaysia has always been based on race," he said, however, noting that there are many Indians and Arabs who "become Malays" by sacrificing their own ethnic identities to adopt the Malay language, customs and names.
"They were accepted by the Malays as Malays even though it's obvious they are not Malays.
"But others do not want to identify themselves as Malays. That is the problem," said Mahathir.
He was initially asked to share his motivation of forming Pejuang as another Malay-based party after leaving Bersatu, the party he founded as an Umno-splinter after a fallout with former premier Najib Abdul Razak.
'German Eisenhower fought the Nazis'
Meanwhile, Mahathir claimed that, unlike their great-grandfathers who came to Malaya, the younger generations of Chinese were born in Malaysia but yet still maintain links to China.
"So this divides the people. This is the Chinese Malaysian, this is Indian Malaysian, this is Malay. Because of that, they cannot be assimilated.
"In other multi-racial countries, once they adopt citizenship of a country they identify themselves only with that country and no longer with where their grandfathers came from," he said.
Mahathir also cited the example of America's former president Dwight David Eisenhower who, prior to assuming office as the 34th president in January 1953, was a high-ranking military officer appointed to lead the charge against Germany in World War II.
He said Eisenhower had led America's troops against the Germans despite being of German descent, "because he sees himself as an American".
"But here we still have people looking back to the old country where they came from and adopting some practices there," said Mahathir.
