A slap in the face for Perkasa’s Malay agenda

Withdrawing ‘Interlok’ from schools is a win-win situation and Perkasa should learn to respect the rights of non Malays instead of whining.

COMMENT

When Karpal Singh dubbed Malay right-wing group Perkasa’s anger and objection to Interlok being removed altogether from the school syllabus as ‘weird logic’, he was putting it mildly.

The truth is Perkasa is angry because it failed to keep the momentum of its ‘Malay-agenda’ going.

That Interlok humiliates the Chinese and Indians and only creates hostility among Malaysians of different racial backgrounds is far from Perkasa’s concern.

“It’s wrong for an extremist organisation like Perkasa to criticise the government’s decision to remove Interlok,” Karpal had said.

The novel which chronicles the lives and struggles of three families – a Malay, Chinese and Indian during pre-independence Malaya was made compulsory reading for Form Five students as part of the Malay Literature subject in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya.

The novel contains racially offensive words such as ‘India Pariah’, ‘Melayu Malas’, ‘Cina Kuai’, ‘perempuan totok’, ‘babi’ and ‘syaitan putih’. It sparked an outrage, especially from the Indian community.

Interlok was also criticised for portraying unhealthy elements such as pre-marital cohabitation, infidelity, spirit worship, trading in humans. And yet, Perkasa found no reason for Interlok to be removed as a reading subject in schools.

Its secretary-general Syed Hasan Syed Ali said the group was very angry with MIC president G Palanivel over the withdrawal of the Form 5 literature text. He expressed Perkasa’s disappointment and regret over the government’s decision.

“The government is too weak and has failed to withstand pressure from a minority group that is big headed. Perkasa is aware of MIC’s need to bank on the Indian vote for the GE13. This is very insolent. Because of the Indian vote, the dignity of a Malay writer is being insulted,” said Syed Hassan.

Such views are far from “weird logic “. They, if anything, are a clear sign that Perkasa has no intention whatsoever of respecting the rights of the non Malays. Unity between rakyat of different racial beliefs is not Perkasa’s concern.

Perkasa has got it wrong – it is Interlok author Abdullah Hussain who has insulted the dignity of the Indians and Chinese, so the issue of MIC and Indian votes does not arise. Clearly, all that Perkasa wants and cares about is safeguarding Malay rights, never mind that it makes this movement a buffoon for its nonsensical views.

Perkasa a threat to 1Malaysia unity

Its consistent track record of threatening and insulting non-Malays has made Perkasa a threat where national security and peace are concerned. Ironically, such bigotry and venomous show by Perkasa time and again has never been a concern with the BN government.

Should the trend of condemning the other races by Perkasa persists, there is no denying the animosity that is bound to erupt. Intervention has to come fast to put a leash on Ibrahim Ali, the face behind Perkasa who calls the shots which are without fail, injurious to Najib’s 1Malaysia unity.

It is baffling that an entity like Perkasa has been granted the right to exist, when all it continues to do is to malign the Indians and Chinese. What is stopping Najib from confronting Ibrahim, cautioning him of the harm Perkasa keeps doing through its extremists beliefs.

It was Perkasa that labelled election watchdog Bersih 2.0 chairperson S Ambiga as dajal or antichrist when she agreed to officiate the ‘Seksualiti Merdeka’ festival last month, an event which provided the much needed space to the gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex and queer communities.

In August this year, Ibrahim threatened to “do something” to the Najib-led government if it failed to take action over three outstanding matters – the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally which the government deemed illegal, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s alleged sex video and DAP’s “Christian conspiracy”.

Perkasa’s existence is causing more harm than good and before all hell breaks loose, something “must be done” to make sure Perkasa starts ‘behaving’ or else it is buried for the good of everyone.

Who really is at the losing end with the removal of Interlok from the school syllabus? Does it embarrass or shame its author, Abdullah Hussain, a national laureate that his work has been regarded as harmful to the national unity agenda?

The hue and cry that Perkasa is going about making is simply because of its refusal to accept the fact that Interlok poses a danger by insinuating that only the Malays are superior, that too at the expense of the non Malays.

At the end of the day, withdrawing Interlok from schools is a win-win situation and if Perkasa goes about whining that it a move in the wrong direction, the only reason it is doing so is because the removal of the novel comes as a slap in the face of Perkasa’s Malay agenda.

Perkasa after all, is nothing but a liability and it would be in the best interest of the nation and her people that Perkasa too receives the same fate as has Interlok.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.