Perkasa admits receiving gov't help

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali has admitted that the Malay rights pressure group receives some help from government agencies.

However, he said that the help provided by these agencies was justified because Perkasa had helped BN shore up Malay support.
 
"We don't deny that agencies such as the National Security Council (MKN), National Civics Bureau (BTN) and Special Affairs Department (Jasa) had helped a selected number of Perkasa programs.
 
"But the help that was extended is not more than what was given to other NGOs, including Chinese and Indian NGOs," he said in a press release late last night.
 
Syed Hassan was responding to criticisms by Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairperson Isa Samad against Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's speech during the group's AGM on Sunday.
 
Ibrahim had warned that Perkasa will replace Umno if it was "weak and toothless", when it comes to Malay issues, hinting that Umno had been making too many concessions to other races.
 
When asked to comment on this, Isa, who is an Umno supreme council member and former Negeri Sembilan Umno chief, askedwhether Perkasa was in fact a beneficiary or an alternative to Umno.
 
Syed Hassan said that Isa's comments were irresponsible and urged him to reveal just how much Perkasa had benefited from Umno.
 
"We hope Isa can list down all the help given to Perkasa for our programs to succeed. How much? Millions? Billions?
 
"If one compares what Perkasa had done to shore up Malay support for BN, the help given by the agencies don't amount to much," he said.