File photo of members of Malaysia's United Malays National Organisation party attending the annual assembly at Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur December 5, 2013. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 ― An Umno Supreme Council member rejected today any suggestion that the quota system is insulting to the Malay community.

According to Datuk Sohaimi Shahadan, the Malays and Bumiputera are “masters” in the land, and forever deserve any special privileges accorded to them.

“As ‘masters’ on our own land, Bumiputeras or Malays indeed deserves to enjoy the privileges at all times, although we have succeeded in narrowing the gap between races in the country,” he said in a statement, as reported by Sinar Harian.

He said there is no problem with the current quota system, and neither is it insulting to other ethnic communities.

Sohaimi said although Malays and Bumiputeras make up the majority in the country, they have not even reached 30 per cent of local millionaires.

He also said that the Malays and Bumiputeras are minorities in private universities.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was reported as saying that young Malaysians want a more common identity that is not defined by race, based on their feedback on the government’s National Transformation 2050.

He was also reported saying that the quota system into local universities is an insult to the Malays.