Ibrahim Ali hindering 1 Malaysia progress, says Gerakan

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Gerakan today condemned Datuk Ibrahim Ali for again raising the May 13 bogeyman, accusing the Malay rights leader of hampering the government's progress in spreading its 1 Malaysia ideology.

Party vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong said Ibrahim was attempting to spread racial hatred and incite tension among the country's different ethnic groups with his “fear-mongering” remarks, which he described as abhorrent and detrimental to racial unity and harmony in the country.

“The Perkasa chief has humiliated himself ... His remarks were hugely irresponsible and completely baseless,” said Mah in a press statement here.

In an interview with Sinar Harian, Ibrahim had suggested that the Chinese community will become a national security threat if it grows more powerful politically and economically, which could result in another bloody racial clash like the May 13 tragedy.

“It is people like Ibrahim Ali who is hindering the progress of 1 Malaysia,” Mah said.

Ibrahim (picture), who is also the founder and leader of right wing Malay rights group Perkasa, had also said in the interview that the Chinese have been playing up political sentiments of late and accused the country's second largest ethnic group of having forgotten how living in Malaysia is “like heaven”.

“Today, the Chinese are okay ... but its not enough ... they want more. Now, they control 40 per cent of the country's economy, and now, they want political power as well,” Ibrahim continued.

“But what will happen in 25 years from now? Today is okay, but tomorrow, when their power spreads, then it will threaten national security and the May 13 incident will return,” he warned.

Ibrahim had earlier today led Perkasa members into reciting a bai'ah (oath) to vote BN candidates in the next polls.

At Perkasa's general assembly this morning, Ibrahim continued his tirade and again suggested that violence might rise if Malays suffer from economic inequality.

He quoted the book “World on Fire” by Amy Chua, which suggested that the free market breeds ethnic hatred and global instability.

He gave examples of violence in the Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa, where shops owned by economically-dominant races had been burnt down after the natives felt threatened.

“Free economy can never help the natives,” Ibrahim said, while urging the government to continue affirmative action for Malays.

Ibrahim or “Tok Him” as he is often called, is known to have positioned himself as the firebrand for the Malay agenda and the face of Perkasa, the Malay right-wing group he had founded just after the 12th general election in 2008.

But his fiery rhetoric and often racially-charged remarks has landed him all too often on a collision course with non-Muslim politicians across the political divide, despite claims from the opposition that he has the backing of the ruling Umno.