Anwar challenged to address Sultan as 'Mister'

SHAH ALAM - Anwar Ibrahim was challenged to address the Sultan as 'mister' by some 200 protestors of Gagasan Anti-Penyelewengan Selangor (GAPS) supporters. They also demanded that the Opposition leader be banned from entering Selangor.

Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifah, who had previously called Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail a 'political prostitute', has reportedly said Friday: "I challenge Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today. If he doesn't support 'ketuanan Melayu', what will he call the Sultan?" The Malaysian Insiderreported.

"We believe in the spirit of ketuanan Melayu and he (Anwar) just does not understand it. So we are challenging Anwar to address the Sultan with these names - will he call him ‘tuan’, ‘friend’, ‘sir’, or ‘mister’? Of course, he (Anwar) will call him ‘Tuanku’. That means he supports ‘Ketuanan Melayu’,” he added.

A memorandum urging Anwar to be banned from entering Selangor were also submitted to Selangor Sultan Sharifuddin Idris Shah which GAPS chairman Hamidzun Khairuddin said: "He is the virus behind the hatred and jealousy of the Malays' development and unity. He is also the culprit that breaks the friendship among the Malays."

GAPS also demanded that Anwar's post as Selangor's economic adviser be removed, saying that the opposition leader "deserves to lose the position" due to his rejection on the 'ketuanan Melayu' concept, FMT reported.

According to Hamidzun, GAPS is represented by Perkasa, the Selangor Youth Council, Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) and 65 other groups.

The rally at Bukit Kayangan palace here on Friday was part of a chain of reactions against the statements made by Anwar and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is PKR president , over the concept of 'ketuanan Melayu'.

During the PKR's annual congress last Saturday, Dr Wan Azizah and her deputy Azmin Ali had called for the abandonment of 'ketuanan Melayu', pointing out that the Malay race was no more supreme than the others and that the concept has been 'twisted' by a group of Malay elites.

Subsequently, Anwar joined in the fray and has urged the Pakatan Rakyat leaders to spread a 'ketuanan rakyat' (people supremacy) message instead, which Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has heralded as democratic.

Prof Emeritus Dr Khoo Kay Kim has previously pointed out that the terminology 'ketuanan Melayu' does not exist in the Federal Constitution, Bernama reported on Tuesday.

The history expert said it was only raised by politicians purely for political purposes, and he observed that politicians were now frequently raising issues that could lead to racial confrontations.

Nevertheless, Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali had on Thursday insisted that the concept of 'ketuanan Melayu' is constitutionally enshrined in the Federal Constitution and any attempts to denounce it is tantamount to a 'human crime'.

“Denouncing ‘ ketuanan Melayu ‘ is a crime and politicizing it is a human crime to the Bangsa Melayu and its existence throughout the evolution of our Malay history and good values of Islam,” claimed Ibrahim, who also said that the Malays should not be apologetic for propagating the slogan. - Malaysian Mirror