Reflecting the mutual climate of distrust and racialist policies in both Singapore and Malaysia (in Singapore, the policies allegedly being pro-Chinese), Lee Kuan Yew sparked another debate in September on the role of Malay primacy in Malaysian politics, stating that the Chinese had been "systematically marginalised" in both Malaysia and Indonesia. The resulting diplomatic incident, with ensuing denials of marginalisation from Malaysian government politicians, led to Lee issuing an apology for his remarks which also attempted to justify them. Abdullah indicated he was not satisfied with what he referred to as a "qualified apology", but the Malaysian government accepted it nevertheless.