'Hero' Ibrahim Ali: I raised awareness, I used reverse psychology

To many Malaysians, Ibrahim Ali should hang his head in shame for his constant barrage of nonsensical comments, but in his own eyes he is nothing less than a hero and the nation should be grateful to him.

The rotund 60-year old had gotten into hot soup for calling a jihad or holy war against Christians in the country, whom he alleged were plotting to replace Islam with Christianity as the official religion.

“I have raised awareness, because this issue is now being discussed openly. This is better than having people putting up a pig's head in a surau, or burning a church. I use reverse psychology,” Malaysiakinireported an unrepentant Ibrahim as saying on Friday.

Kazim and an Ustaz-led attack against Pakatan's multiracialism

In the wake of Ibrahim's fiery speech made a fortnight ago, where he not only called for a holy war but also pledged that he and members of his Perkasa group would die "sprawling in blood" to defend Islam, there have been widepsread calls to the authorities to arrest and charge him under the Sedition Act.

But Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz refused, arguing it would be "selective prosecution" to do so, although the mercurial minister also conceded that Ibrahim was a "clown".

Nazri and his boss, Prime Minister Najib Razak, were immediately accused of double standards and of sending a deliberate signal to hot-heads in the Muslim community to replicate Ibrahim Ali's extreme speech.

Some believe their purpose was to spark a wave of Ustaz-led attacks against the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

True enough, just days ago, a religious teacher from Perak, Ustaz Mohammad Kazim Elias Al Hafiz, emerged from the woodwork. Kazim launched a vitriolic attack against the Chinese and Indians for being greedy and demanding more rights than they deserved at the expense of the Malays.

“Today, their races are questioning Malay supremacy, that’s rubbish, we are the ones who have given them the space to speak. The Malays have been very generous with them. We share the country with them. Give them land. Give them positions. They are not satisfied still?” said Kazim.

“Why is it like this? The answer is simple. Because there are Malays who support them. If they ruled us, they wouldn’t get what we’re giving them now."

Najib is widely expected to call for snap general elections within the next few months. His BN coalition has ruled the country for the past 5 decades but it is not clear yet how the populace will vote this time.

BN, and in particular, his UMNO party is depending on the Malay vote to pull them through. Malays form nearly 60 per cent of the population.

“Even the government does not want to arrest people, because it will only create heroes. I have been detained twice under the ISA, so if I get detained a third time I will come out with a PhD in ISA and I'll be viewed as a hero,” said Ibrahim, who is the founder-president of ultra Malay rights group Perkasa.

Keeping MCA and MIC under control for UMNO

Ibrahim, the Pasir Mas MP, also picked up the cudgels for a new issue - government scholarships.

On Friday, he demanded that the government set aside 67 per cent of scholarships to Malay and Bumiputera students to reflect their ratio in the population. Somehow his late entry into the issue - an annual hot potatao - did not ring sincere.

Many believe he waded in on behalf of UMNO, the BN boss, and merely for the purpose of reminding coalition components, MCA and MIC, who was in charge.

“Seeing that the Barisan Nasional government, which is the ruling coalition, came into power because of majority support from the Malays and Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras, and also based on the federal constitution, this group must be prioritised in all allocations, including JPA scholarships,” Malaysian Insider reported Ibrahim as saying.

The current quota for JPA or Public Service Department scholarships for Malay and Bumi is 55 per cent.

Ibrahim also brushed off accusations that he was "untouchable", and took a swipe at Anwar.

“Ibrahim Ali is not untouchable. I am not above the law, but if you want to arrest me it must be for an offence,” said Ibrahim. “Anwar is untouchable. He and his supporters go around at ceramahs and everywhere defending his sodomy charge, when they know full well it is contempt of court."

- Malaysia Chronicle