Recognise Bumiputeras as ‘core group’ for national unity, say Malay groups

Ibrahim Ali (right) at the Perkasa convention today with guests, including Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad (2nd left). - The Malaysian Insider pic, November 23, 2014.Malaysia will only achieve national unity once Bumiputeras are recognised as the country’s “core group” (bangsa teras), a coalition of Malay rights groups said today.

In a memorandum titled the National Unity Memorandum, the Malay non-governmental organisations said that identifying a core group was necessary to preserve peace in multi-racial societies, and in Malaysia, the Bumiputeras fit the bill as they were the “original” settlers of the Malay archipelago.

“Bumiputeras as the core group and majority is important in forming national unity policies in Malaysia,” read the memorandum, which was drafted by a committee headed by Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

“It is also important for the formation of various strategies, policies, programmes and laws to promote and strengthen national unity, besides in forming strategies, policies, programmes and laws to protect and guarantee the safety of Malaysians.”

The groups said that should other races in Malaysia fail to recognise Bumiputeras as the core group, and if the government did not formulate its policies based on the “historical facts”, Malaysia may face serious problems of racism.

“The fact is Malay Muslims as well as ethnic Malay Muslims and non-Muslims were the original settlers and citizens around the Malay archipelago, which is Southeast Asia, which comprises Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, before Singapore left Malaysia in 1965.

“This is why the memorandum focuses on the issue of core group, in the context of national unity in Malaysia,” read the memorandum.

It urged the government to spread understanding and appreciation of the importance of “the Bumiputera factor” in maintaining peace in Malaysia.

But the memorandum also stressed that national unity was not the sole responsibility of Bumiputeras alone, adding that Malaysia would be torn apart should the other races wash their hands of the matter.

The groups said they acknowledged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s attempts to promote unity through the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), but said the council should be abolished as it was “dominated by Malaysians who are said to be liberal”.

“With that, the memorandum urges the Malaysian government to abolish the NUCC and replace it with a new council chaired by the prime minister,” read the memorandum.

The memorandum was debated among 314 Malay NGOs before an audience of 1,235 Malays at the Islamic Centre in Kuala Lumpur, before it was unanimously passed in the evening.

Ibrahim told the mammoth gathering that they intended to present the memorandum to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister during the Umno general assembly next week.

“I shall also work on arranging for this memorandum to be handed to the King and the Sultans,” Ibrahim said after the memorandum was passed.

- TMI