Regina Lee
Speaking to reporters after chairing the Malaysian National Silat Federation (Pesaka) meeting, of which he is the president, Ali said that a person who is hell-bent on “causing chaos in the country” does not deserve to citizenship.
“Some of the members have asked for her citizenship to be revoked or to have her exiled.
“Better to just lose one person than to lose a lot of lives,” he said, adding that it was merely a suggestion to the federal government to “take the harshest punishment against her”.
“And now she wants to be a hero. If she thinks that we should have democracy by going on demonstrations like the way other countries do, then let her be the citizen of another country,” said Ali, who is former Umno vice-president.
At the fiery press conference in Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, Kampung Baru this afternoon, another Pesaka member shouted that she was a traitor, drawing roars of approval from other members.
Pesaka is an umbrella body for the more than 300 silatbodies nationwide, claiming to represent four million silatexponents.
The mahaguru (grandmaster) of the Persatuan Seni Silat Lincah Malaysia, Omardin Mauju had previously announced that the silatexponents will be waging war with the Bersih activists come the massive rally on July 9.
‘Ambiga has to bear all responsibility’
Also present at the function, Omardin said that Pesaka members will be marching in Umno Youth’s ‘Patriot’ rally timed with Bersih’s, to “defend the Istana Negara”.
“But if she doesn’t proceed with the rally, then we won’t go also,” he said.
However, Ali said that they nor the public should not be blamed if chaos were to ensue.
“I am worried that a May 13 may reoccur. This is in our history, we have been through this before so it should not be taken lightly. Maybe the younger generation are not aware of this.
I worry that Pesaka will not be able to control the emotions of its members. In the meeting just now, I can see that our members are also on fire already. If anything happens to anyone, we should not be blamed. Ambiga has to bear all responsibility,” he said.
However, Ali played down the earlier threats of “waging war”, saying that they will only rally if the Bersih demonstration were to proceed.
Omardin chipped in, saying that they will not be the ones to strike the first blow.
“For us silat exponents, our instinct is to defend ourselves. If they don’t kacau us, then we will leave them alone. If they were to provoke or harass us, then be prepared for us to fight back.
We just want to defend the Istana Negara since silat is about defending Islam and the Malay race,” he said, adding that they would not be joining Malay rights NGO Perkasa in their rally on the same day.
July 9 will see three separate rallies by Bersih 2.0, Umno Youth and Perkasa.
While Bersih supporters are expected to march to Istana Negara to hand over a petition calling for electoral reforms, the other two bodies will be to protest their demonstration.
Also at the press conference were Umno Youth information chief Reezal Merican Naina Merican in the bright red ‘Patriot’ t-shirt.
During the one-and-a-half hour closed door meeting with 211 silatteachers, two policemen were seen milling around Kelab Sultan Sulaiman for several minutes before leaving.
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