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Monday, July 14, 2014

Negara-Ku founder confident most Malaysians will support its values

Zaid Kamaruddin, chairman of Negara-Ku’s steering committee, says Negara-Ku is not going against anybody. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 14, 2014.Zaid Kamaruddin, chairman of Negara-Ku’s steering committee, says Negara-Ku is not going against anybody. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 14, 2014.
Within days of its formation, the Negara-Ku movement seeking to heal Malaysia of divisiveness has already come under attack from three sides: the Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), Malay rights group Perkasa and Malay daily Utusan Malaysia.
Isma accused Negara-Ku of being anti-Islam and anti-Malay while the Umno-owned Utusan suggested the coalition’s patron, Datuk Ambiga Sreneevasan, was using it for her own agenda.
Instead of retaliating against Isma’s criticism, Zaid Kamaruddin, chairman of Negara-Ku’s steering committee, chose not to make negative remarks about the Islamist group, saying that based on its charter, Negara-Ku would be something with which many organisations and “even Isma” would agree.
"I wish to stress that Negara-Ku is not going against anybody, it’s just that in Malaysian politics the stakes are high in the elections, so civil society has to lead the way," the activist told The Malaysian Insider.
Ambiga had already responded to Utusan’s criticism by saying that Negara-Ku’s agenda was to promote unity, peace and harmony, and those who criticised it were trying to deflect Malaysians from issues of racism and extremism.
Zaid, who is credited with mooting the idea of the coalition, refused to take the credit for it, saying it was conceived jointly by some concerned activists from various groups.
"We were already together under Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) and were concerned about certain unhealthy developments since the last general election.
"The trajectory was such that things were getting worse, so we thought we must do something about it and that is how Negara-Ku was conceived," said the man who graduated from the prestigious Malay College in Kuala Kangsar – a secondary school for the Malay elite.
(GBM is a non-partisan, multi-ethnic coalition of 24 civil society organisations established in 2011 to champion the cause for a better Malaysia.)
Negara-Ku was launched last Thursday, with the aim of bringing Malaysians together to ensure a peaceful co-existence and counter negative developments that threaten to tear society apart by going back to basics.
The basics as listed in Negara-Ku's charter are the Federal Constitution, Malaysia Agreement and Rukunegara.
Zaid, who is also vice-president of Muslim NGO Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia, said the activists were concerned about the growing divide among people of different faiths and ethnicity, coupled with threats of May 13 periodically cropping up and politicians taking sides.
He added that this was a far cry from what the older generation felt and took comfort in, including having friends of all races and visiting each other's homes freely.
Recalling his schooling days at Kajang High School, where the majority of students were non-Malays, the 58-year-old grandfather said: "We were happy all the time and not aware of our differences.
"And when May 13 came and went in 1969, we went back to school after the curfew and continued to get along well.
“We were unaware of the severity of what happened and that is the basics we want to go back to.”
Zaid said that it was important for Malaysians to come together for a common cause even though there might be differences in opinions, ideologies or views.
He said this was why a Muslim organisation like Ikram could work with Negara-Ku.
Zaid added that the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) movement was also a good example of Malaysians uniting for a common cause, as it attracted people from all walks of life.
This is what he hopes for Negara-Ku.
"If politicians played their role like statesmen and did not take sides, we probably do not need to do this, but sadly, that is not the case."
Zaid, who has been involved in activism since his university days in the United Kingdom, said that in the end, most Malaysians wanted peace and good relationships with people of all backgrounds.
He is thankful for the support of family and close friends, adding that those he had worked with in GBM were friends who studied with him in the UK.
"Even then we had our debates as student activists and had different solutions to issues, but we also had a lot in common. We wanted to establish good relationships and to always remain objective.”
Negara-Ku, which has the endorsement of 68 civil society groups, will convene its first steering committee meeting today and will meet with supporting NGOs on July 17.
- TMI

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