GEORGE TOWN: Malaysian ministers Lim Guan Eng and M. Kulasegaran have responded to race-based accusations made against them.

Finance Minister Lim was accused of not wanting to admit he is Chinese while Human Resource Minister Kulasegaran had to refute a newspaper report that said he described Malays as immigrants.

Mr Lim slammed his critics, saying: "Recently, MCA (the opposition Malaysian Chinese Association) criticised me for not wanting to admit that I am Chinese. I am saying that I am Malaysian first, but I am Chinese too. Even this they find fault (with). This is really playing the racial game."

He was speaking at a press conference after launching a pictorial book on the aftermath of the landslides last November at Penang Hill yesterday, The Star reported. 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, the Star reported.

"I issued a statement on Israel and criticised the position of the Israeli regime. 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 Mr Lim's Democratic Action Party had criticised the Israeli Knesset for passing the "Jewish national law".

Mr Kulasegaran also had to come out strongly to deny a recent news report in which he allegedly labelled the Malays as "pendatang", or immigrants.

Saying he was quoted out of context, Mr Kulasegaran also denied claiming that the Indians were the original inhabitants of Tanah Melayu, now Malaysia, the New Straits Times reported.

The "slanderous" report was being used to stir racism in the country, he said in a statement.

"Last week, I attended a Hindu event in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, where I said we shouldn't label a certain race as immigrants because all of us live together in Malaysia.

"During the event, which was conducted in Tamil, I never once talked about the Malays. Allegations that I called the Malays immigrants are mere slanders and lies.

"What I said during the event was that the Indians have been in Tanah Melayu since 2,500 years ago. Hinduism was introduced by the Indians in Tanah Melayu.

"The discoveries made at the Lembah Bujang archeological site, especially in Sungai Batu in Kedah, confirm this," he said on his Facebook page.

In his statement, Mr Kulasegaran said that based on the archeological discoveries, it was unfair for the Indians to be labelled as immigrants, New Straits Times reported.

He said Buddhism also flourished in the region until the advent of Islam.

"All these are historical facts, So, what I want to emphasise is that history should be taught using the correct, accurate and complete facts. This is important because every Malaysian should know their own history," he said.