Malay scholar: Butt protest against our custom

Respected Malaysian scholar Arshad Ayub has lambasted the "butt protest" in front of Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan's house as abhorrent to both Malay culture and common sense.

"It is wrong. We shouldn't do that. From the viewpoint of Malay custom, it is not proper too," said Arshad, who was honoured with the Eminent Malay Award by Umno at its recent anniversary celebration.

Such acts should be stopped and not repeated by any party in the future, even in retaliation, he said when met byMalaysiakini after a dialogue session in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Arshad was referring to the posterior calisthenics of a group of army veterans from Persatuan Veteran Tentera Melayu (PVTM) in front of Ambiga's house on Tuesday.

The group members bent over and shook their rear ends in the direction of Ambiga's house in protest of her "smearing" Malaysia's good name.

"If they do things like that, why should we follow suit? There's no need to retaliate," said the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) founder.

Arshad's admonition of the butt dance joins a chorus of voices from across the partisan divide condemning the action of the former army men.

Ambiga herself has called the shocking act an invasion of her privacy and sees it as containing elements of sexual harassment.

Arshad was garlanded with the Eminent Malay Award last Friday, during Umno's 66th anniversary celebrations held at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.