KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today complained of authorities’ inaction against businesses putting up signs in foreign languages instead of Malay.

He said he observed this during a visit to the city during weekends, especially to its newer shopping malls.

While he said the development was impressive, Dr Mahathir criticised the neglect of Malay in the signs put up by the retailers.

"All the signboards are in Chinese with English translations. Nothing in Malay. Not at all.

"So is this Malaysia. Or have we become a part of China,” he said on social media.

He said English was understandable as it was the lingua franca, but he questioned the prominence of Hanzi.

Dr Mahathir claimed to have heard that local display of Hanzi for signs is so ubiquitous that Chinese media called referred to Malaysia as Little China.