Ali Tinju a disgrace, we must expel, says armed forces veterans’ association VP

Perak Armed Forces Veteran Association president Jayah Said says Ali Tinju's claim to be president of the Malay Army Veterans Association was deceitful. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Wong Tuck Keong, December 23, 2015.Mohd Ali Baharom, also known as Ali Tinju, should be expelled from the Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Association (PVATM), the president of the association's Perak chapter said today.

Jayah Said, who is also PVATM national vice-president, said he will recommend to the association's executive council that Ali Tinju's membership be terminated, following his disgraceful actions and false claim to represent retired servicemen.

"There have been numerous complaints in the association, not only in Perak, which has the largest number of PVATM members out of all 14 states, but also in Sabah and the Federal Territories.

"As the vice-president in charge of disciplinary measures, I believe he (Ali) has committed enough acts to warrant termination of his membership," the retired Navy officer told reporters in Ipoh today.

He said Ali's claim to be president of the Malay Army Veterans Association was deceitful, as it was not recognised by the Registrar of Societies.

The PVATM had previously issued a statement saying Ali had served in the Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) for eight years and was a member of the Petaling, Selangor branch.

However, he was not considered an active member, and the Federal Territory and Selangor Malay Army Veterans Association established by Ali had been dissolved by the Registrar of Societies for failing to comply with certain rules and regulations under the Societies Act 1966.

PVATM also distanced themselves from Ali's racist statements against the Chinese, which was deemed to have given the armed forces veterans a bad image.

Jayah said the public as well as some government officials had mistakenly believed Ali represented PVATM, as the umbrella body for armed forces veterans and recognised by the Defence Ministry.

“But actually, he is acting as an individual.

“We will not do such things as a ‘butt exercise’ outside someone's home,” he said, referring to the incident in which Ali had led a group in doing “butt exercises” outside the house of then Bersih 2.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan in 2012.

They accused her of tarnishing Malaysia's image.

“Ali should not be deemed as ‘kebal’ (immune) to the country's laws. We hope the government and related authorities will take action against him for blowing the fans of racist sentiments,” he said, adding that Perak represented 26,000 members out of PVATM's 163,000 members nationwide and had 45 branches in the association, the highest among all the states.

- TMI