Malay rights NGO Perkasa says the Malay community in Malaysia has sacrificed enough for the sake of national unity, and should not have to cede more of their rights and privileges just to appease the country’s minorities.
Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali questioned why Malays had to sacrifice more of their rights when the non-Malays already “control” the nation’s economy, as a response to a proposal by overseas graduates that Malaysia’s Malay community should cede their rights in exchange for better acceptance of Malay culture among the other races.
“Why only the Malays have to sacrifice? And this supposedly because the other races cannot accept our ways. They control the country’s economy.
“What more must the Malays sacrifice? Enough of asking from us,” Syed Hassan told The Malay Mail Online.
The foreign-educated students, most of whom were of Malay descent, at the “National Reconciliation: Unity in Diversity” forum moderated by Akademi Belia, had offered to surrender their “special privileges” for the sake of fostering national unity.
A forum participant, Mohd Zairul Mohd Noor, 34, said in exchange for the rollback of Malay rights and privileges, other ethnicities should “absorb” more of the Malay language and culture as part of their Malaysian identity, without forgetting their own customs.
“We have [the] social contract, which means that Malays will be protected in certain things, in terms of education.
“Why are Malays hesitant to let go of privileges to other races?” he said.
Another participant Azrul Mohd Khalib pointed out that Malays “cannot survive” by holding on to race-based privileges and called on policymakers to redefine skewed policies, adding that the Malaysian identity should not be tied down to the dominance of a single ethnicity or group.
“We cannot survive if we do not start practising meritocracy. I think when it comes to national reconciliation, it has to address this critical issue of letting go of race-based policies,” the US graduate said.
Malays make up over 60% of Malaysia’s population of 30 million, and are constitutionally classified to also denote Malaysians who are Muslim and of Bumiputera descent, together with the natives of sabah and Sarawak.
Syed Hassan dismissed the proposals as lacking insight, as the student commentators did not specify which special rights should be ceded, or what unique privileges enjoyed by the Malays should be abolished.
“We want to know what they meant by privileges that we should give up so that other races can accept the Malay culture?” he added.
“Just because you have been educated overseas, don’t forget your history. We, the Malays, have helped in making the existing policies successful. But when you come all you want to do is to get rid of Malay rights,” fired back Syed Hassan.
He reminded the commentators that once surrendered, Bumiputera special constitutional rights and privileges, and the affirmative action policies that support them, would forever be gone.
“Perkasa finds it peculiar, what can’t the other races accept about the Malay culture? For decades we have lived together in this fortunate country, why is it impossible to accept our culture?” said Syed Hassan.
Story: The Malay Mail Online
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