Perkasa a liability to Umno in GE-13: Ibrahim Ali an embarrassment to the Malays

If you go around the kampongs or villages and ask randomly whether the Malays there know what PERKASA is or stands for, most of them won’t be able to tell you anything about it, except perhaps for the men who will hum and haw before asking - is it a new aphrodisiac product in the market?

Those who know PERKASA and its controversy-seeking founder, Ibrahim Ali, are usually dead against it. They have no kind words for the self-proclaimed ultra-Malay rights group and only read about its activities from the news portals and papers. Certainly, there is no actual, concrete or real support for PERKASA from the majority of the Malays - rural or urban.

Even most of those who support UMNO couldn’t be bothered by PERKASA and see them as an outfit of elderly clowns with overfed and wobbly chins. In Kelantan, people know Ibrahim Ali as the independent MP for Pasir Mas. According to him, PERKASA was started in reaction to political rhetoric about equality and meritocracy following the 2008 general election, when UMNO nearly lost the federal government.

Political mercenaries who failed to get Malay support

Ibrahim had earlier contested under a PAS ticket but declared himself an Independent soon after winning, much to the anger of Pakatan Rakyat supporters who cursed him for his 'cheating' and 'opportunistic' ways. Ibrahim can indeed be fairly described as a political mercenary, having earlier been thrown out of UMNO. Isolated and friendless, it was PAS who gave him a last chance.

Despite his claims, the idea to form PERKASA was not really to fight for the Malays but to make himself visible and stay relevant, if not he would be on the road to oblivion. Also, it was an 'assignment from UMNO, so to speak. Fed-up with how UMNO Youth had become a toothless tiger under current chief Khairy Jamaluddin, party elders like Mahathir Mohamad had also looked to 'outsource' to PERKASA the wing's traditional ultra-racist work and stance.

PERKASA membership consists mostly of UMNO members as Ibrahim Ali himself admitted during an  an interview with an online media. “A few who are MPs and a few supreme council members," the puffed-up Ibrahim said, refusing to reveal names except that of Mahathir Mohamad, the Perkasa patron. Quite a number are retired top military personnel, he adds, sizeable too are civil servants from the technical and clerical group while a handful are PAS and PKR members.

“I’m personally surprised at the support, and I didn’t set any membership targets. It is beyond my expectations,” he was reported as saying.

And surprised he should be, because he had expected more. In fact, he had hoped that all the Malays would support PERKASA but he only managed to get a handful and most of these were in a very awkward situation since they were also supporters or members of political parties.

Patron Mahathir also as disliked by the Malays

Mahathir, the former prime minister, wrote in his blog; “Whatever may be the feelings of UMNO, I have decided that the NGOs have a big enough following which could do damage to UMNO and the BN in the next election if they want to. Accordingly I have decided to stay close with Perkasa especially and to ensure that it does not swing over to the opposition. I would like to ensure that Perkasa supports the Barisan Nasional in the next election”.

Nonetheless, the support from Mahathir and ex-IGP Rahim Noor, have done nothing much to convince the Malays that PERKASA is good for them. Many still shy away from PERKASA. Why is this so? Could it be that the Malays do not think much of Mahathir or Rahim Noor either?

Frankly, the Malays have already got UMNO, PAS and PKR to serve their interests. Furthermore, besides the Barisan Nasional, they also have Pakatan Rakyat as an alternative; in short the Malays have enough choices.

The Malay nature and why Perkasa is an outcast 

NGOs too are different from political parties. NGO like PERKASA can only bark but not bite. Moreover, PERKASA is seen as being racist and overly Malay nationalistic - which are not at all cultural values held by the Malays themselves.

Even before independence, the Malays had willingly accommodated the Chinese and Indian immigrants. The Malays even allowed these immigrants to 'squat' on their lands, build their homes, plant crops and rear chickens and ducks. The Malays are kind hearted and mild mannered by nature. Thus the approach and the stance chosen by Ibrahim Ali and PERKASA would not have the desired effect simply because it is alien to the Malays.

People may say the Malays were not really that mild mannered because during the demonstrations held against the formation of the Malayan Union in the 1950s, many Malays took part. But they were not there to demonstrate. Sad to say, they were there because they were told they would be given money. Yes, money was what it was all about as they were very poor.

Still poor

Similar is the case today. The majority of the Malays are still poor. So if after 54 years in power and struggling for the Malays, UMNO has not been able to improve the lot of the community, what can PERKASA do?

The Malays are not interested in rhetoric, slogans, threats and shouting. However, this seems to be all that UMNO and PERKASA have done or are good for. The Malays want answers and results. They may be poor but they are not backwards. The Malays are fed up with UMNO, and PERKASA just makes them feel more fed up and frustrated that nothing whatsoever promised, planned and implemented have borne real fruit.

PERKASA could be of more help if it questioned everything that UMNO has done for the Malays and also ask why only a few Malays, UMNO ministers and UMNO-puteras are rich. Get all the prognosis and scrutinize for improvement, not select and pick as only an 'appointed' sister organization would to help cover up for UMNO .

PERKASA just keeps on blaming others for the predicament faced by the Malays, from asking the Chinese and Indians to go back to where their ancestors came from, demanding that the citizenships of some people be revoked, antagonizing the other races and faiths. The latest spat between Ibrahim Ali and Rev Eu Hong Seng is a prime example of PERKASA, and Ibrahim Ali in particular, have given the Malays a bad name.

When will Ibrahim Ali wake up from his nightmare? Has he not realized that after his failed attempt to garner Malay support for a counter-rally during the July 9 Bersih protest, that PERKASA is not only irrelevant to the Malays, he - Ibrahim Ali - is a real pain in the butt!

Malaysia Chronicle