Honestly, it is something to be welcomed and lauded. Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s “Keluarga Malaysia” or Malaysian Family concept which he touted in his inaugural speech as the ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia delivered live on national television on Sunday Aug 22.

A quick recap on what he said about the concept. He is pushing the concept of Malaysian Family because it is more inclusive, going on to say it is like the existence of a family whose members have intermarried with people of various races and religions and yet the strong family ties bind them together.

“To me, the concept of a Malaysian Family is akin to the strength of a nation bound together by values found within families with a proper upbringing,” the Prime Minister told the nation that Sunday evening.

Tell me how can one not agree that it is noble. That has always been the Malaysia dream for many of us. Any Malaysian regardless of race and religion who does not subscribe to such a notion must be “crazy”, for want of a better word.

But somehow reaction from Malaysians was muted as far as social media is concerned. That according to a FMT report.

No, we don’t have many crazy Malaysians going round rejecting the noble concept. It’s just that quite a number of Malaysians view Ismail’s offer of inclusivity “warmly” but “cautiously”.

We cannot, or rather should not, blame them for that. At least one comment on Twitter is telling: “Your past precedes you. Walk the talk.”

So. just what is the Prime Minister’s “past” which “precedes” him?

It’s no big secret that Ismail had courted controversies in his political career, including some of his pro-Malay stances contrary to the Malaysian Family concept he is now propagating.

Surely many of us can still recall how in 2015 as the agriculture minister in the BN administration, Ismail called on the Malays to shun Chinese businesses to force them to lower prices. I’ve quoted a Malaysiakini report for details on this issue.

Ismail said then that the majority of customers were Malays and the Chinese, minority. If the Malays would boycott Chinese businesses, the Chinese would have no choice but to reduce the prices.

“As long as the Malays don’t change, the Chinese will take advantage and oppress the Malays,” he was reported to have said.

Now, that’s not being Malaysian Family I would say. Right?

Yes, he would later “clarify” that his boycott call was meant to target only “stubborn Chinese traders”.

Then there’s Low Yat 2. We all remember that, don’t we?

A phone theft at Kuala Lumpur’s Low Yat Plaza digital mall turned into a racially charged clash.

Ismail, who by then had taken over as minister of rural and regional development, responded by creating what was then known as “Low Yat 2” to be operated by Malay traders only.

Again I need to say – nothing Malaysian Family in that.

Anyway, he denied his brainchild mall– which was later named Mara Digital — was racist, saying he was only taking care of the Malays, for which he was praised by the community. Many of them anyway.

But even Malays pointed out that his concept for the mall was only short-term gain. Mara Digital in Kuantan and Johor Bahru closed in 2018 and 2019 respectively while the main mall in Kuala Lumpur remains open till his day but has always struggled with low sales and all sorts of problems even before the pandemic.

When BN lost GE14 in 2018, Ismail as an opposition MP was among those who attacked the Pakatan Harapan government’s plans to ratify ICERD.

And speaking at the anti-ICERD rally among the things he said was that the PH government was trying to get more Indian students into Mara Junior Science College meant for the Malays. because “now the minister is not Malay”.

Ismail had also spoken on alleged erosion of Malay privileges, that Malaysia was run by DAP and every vote for DAP was like empowering Pakatan Harapan to eliminate the “special rights” of the Malays and the “uniqueness of Islam”.

And many more. In short, as reminded by many a Malay netizen, Ismail had played the racial card to the max when he was opposition.

Nothing surprising, as rightly said by P Gunasegaram, editorial consultant of The Vibes. Ismail is of the Ketuanan Melayu mode. like most top Umno leaders. If I may add – like Umno itself. Full stop.

And one more thing. A substantial number of netizens, Malays included, are saying Ismail’s Malaysian Family concept is nothing new, as opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had much earlier said the children of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Dusun “are all my children”. And Ismail’s concept, they say, has Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia ring to it.

Obviously, the things he did and said in the past is now haunting him. But despite all that, I would say let’s give Ismail a chance. At the very least, let’s see how he makes good his words before passing the verdict.

According to Gunasegaram in his latest article for The Vibes, the main thing for Ismail is not to make a gaffe in running the country.

I agree. No gaffe in everything, not only the Malaysian Family concept.

And as Gunasegaram sees it, if Ismail does the right things, we Malaysians must support him – “otherwise there is still the option of a no confidence motion. For the first time in over six decades, Malaysians have a choice and Ismail Sabri ignores that at his own peril. He is not likely to.”

I say, let’s see what he does, and how it goes.

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)