'Perkasa and 1Malaysia don't contradict each other'

Once the fist-thumping, poster-burning face of Perkasa Youth, Arman Azha Abu Hanifah is now the proud leader of a gentler NGO-Suara Anak Muda 1Malaysia.

The irony though, seems to be lost on the 37-year-old.

Having left Perkasa in March last year, Arman in an interview last week said that he sees no contradiction in his support for the Malay rights NGO and the 1Malaysia concept.

"(Perkasa and 1Malaysia) match because Perkasa is only championing what is in the federal constitution. The 1Malaysia concept, too, is based on the constitution.

"But this is a game of perception, with (Perkasa) labelled racist, chauvinist, which made Perkasa seem wrong.

"If seen in a matured manner, you'd find that Perkasa is championing constitutional things, they never ask more or less, they just ask to protect what is right, what's stated in the constitution. Simple," he said.

Still close to the Malay rights pressure group, particularly its leader Ibrahim Ali who he considers his "foster father", Armand added that people should accept Perkasa in the name of "openness".

"If you want to champion freedom of expression, you walk the talk. You have to be bold to accept criticism.

"(PKR de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) champions openness, freedom of expression and the media.

"So I want him to unblock me (on twitter), I'm asking Lim Guan Eng, Azmin Ali to unblock me," he said, urging opposition leaders to be like PM Najib Abdul Razak who "never blocks anyone" on social media.

'Don't mess with our leader'

Even so, Armand, who joined Umno at the tender age of 19, admitted that criticism in the form of lowering a banner with Najib's face at the Umno headquarters by student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim was too hot to handle. 

Burning posters of controversial rapper Namewee and calling him a "pig" and "traitor", too, seems more tame than what Adam did, as it did not involve "our number one leader". 

"When you come to PWTC, with people coming with open hands to accept the memorandum, and you go and take down the flag of our number one leader Dato Sri Najib... for me that's not being responsible," he said, expressing no qualms about fighting fire with fire.

He said he would not have uploaded the "provocative" video threatening to spit and slap Adam's face if the latter has just submitted the memorandum to Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who was very accommodating. 

In any case, he pointed out that over 250,000 people had viewed the 'video threat' to Adam, showing that (his) "provocation had worked".

"No problem (if people laugh at me). If I come up with a 'normal video'...people will say that Umno Youth is weak or cowardly. When I'm fierce, they say I'm acting like a thug

"We will never get 100 percent support but whatever I do, I will never back out from what I stand for," said the father of two who had to go on a nationwide roadshow with his NGO to explain himself on this matter.

One of the issues that he holds dear, he said, is the "forgotten youth"--the Mat Rempit, indie band and fixi bike generation which he feels is not being given enough attention. 

Not from a well-off family, Armand moved to Kuala Lumpur from Ipoh on his own as a teenager and paid his way through higher education, taking night classes at Stamford College after work. 

He later worked as a junior auditor at local banks like Perwira Affin and Arab Malaysian, before moving to Naza Motors, where he was mentored by the founder, the late SM Nasimuddin SM Amin. 

This is the kind of nurturing which he hopes his NGO-which has, he claims, attracted 10,000 pre-registered members through its roadshows, forums and concerts-can provide.

Committed to this, Arman has to date even paid his own way to London recently to address Malaysian students there in the name of Suara Anak Muda 1Malaysia. 

'We're not brown-nosing'

Still, the on the nose branding of the NGO, with its reference to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's political slogan, raises questions as to the exact role the organisation intends to play.

Asked if it is joining the 1Malaysia bandwagon to curry favour, Arman insist that "it is just perception". 

He is also adamant that the NGO was not formed to be "seat fillers" at BN-sponsored events, insisting that these two ventures of his remain separate. 

"When we see everything from a negative viewpoint, it becomes negative...Everybody loves 1Malaysia. Actually 1Malaysia is in all of us regardless of whether you support BN or Pakatan. 1Malaysia is about unity," he said.

But branding or not, Arman's group enters an already-crowded sea of NGOs, each with their own causes to champion.

While he acknowledged the new trend of emerging NGOs, he appeared unfazed and pronounced that many NGOs did not "walk the talk".

"If you want to make an NGO, it's all up to you. But make sure you do it properly... don't found an NGO for the glamour, or to boast that you own an NGO," he said.