Mahathir expressed discomfort with "far too many non-Malay citizens who can swamp the Malays" when "...suddenly it has dawned upon the Malay that he cannot even call Malaya his land. There is no more "Tanah Melayu" — land of the Malays. He is now a different person, a Malaysian, but a Malay Malaysian whose authority in Malaya — his land — is now not only shared with others, but shared unequally. And as if this is not enough, he is being asked to give up more and more of his share of influence." Mahathir's defence of Malay rights focused both on the "definitive people" line of reasoning and the argument in favour of affirmative action, which the Reid Commission had chosen: "It is not... for reasons of Malay superiority that preferential treatment for Malays in scholarship awards was insisted upon. ... They are a means of breaking down the superior position of the non-Malays in the field of education. The Malays are not proud of this treatment." Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Mahathir denied he had altered any of his views since he wrote the book.