Does Perkasa have MCA’s support?

Rosmah's dinner with Perkasa another indication of BN’s endorsement of the extremist Malay group, says DAP.

PETALING JAYA: What is the MCA’s relationship with the Malay supremacist group Perkasa?

This was the question posed by Kampung Tunku assemblyman (DAP) Lau Weng San after he attacked Rosmah Mansor’s attendance at a Perkasa dinner last week.

He claimed that the presence of the Prime Minister’s wife at the event showed that BN was secretly supporting Perkasa and that the Najib administration endorsed extremism and racism.

He asked MCA to explain why it was willing to associate itself with Perkasa, which he said was “inflicting harm on the Chinese community”.

As an example of Perkasa’s anti-Chinese stance, he cited the recent incident in which the Malay group’s leader, Ibrahim Ali, gave out white ang pows to a group of elderly Chinese invited to its Chinese New Year dinner. (The Chinese use white envelopes for ang pows only during funerals.)

Low criticised MCA and its president, Dr Chua Soi Lek, for not censuring Ibrahim for the insult.

He accused the party of having collaborated with Perkasa in various events aimed at bringing down the Selangor state government, citing the presence of MCA leaders in Perkasa-organised street demonstrations against the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor.

FMT reported last July that Selangor MCA Public Complaints Bureau chief Theng Book and his deputy Kelvin Chong had joined former Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifah in one of those protests.

Lau said MCA leaders were also at a Perkasa protest in December 2010.