‘I AM PRIBUMI FIRST, MALAYSIAN SECOND’: UMNO MAN’S RACIST TIRADE A HARBINGER OF WHAT’S TO COME FROM MAHATHIR’S BERSATU?

A few days ago I wrote here about the race and religion cards being played by Umno and PAS trying to get Malay Muslim support.

In that article I quoted former Umno minister Khairy Jamaluddin as saying Umno risked becoming a failed party if it veered too much towards the right and continued to play “racist tactics”.

Khairy also said via Twitter: “If our capital to win GE15 is mongering fear among the Malays on issues like the appointment of a non-Muslim AG, Chief Justice, etc., we can forget about recapturing Putrajaya.”

As we know, Umno and for that matter PAS, have attacked the appointments, claiming Muslims are “threatened, worried and restless”.

So, it’s not a surprise several Umno leaders are angry with Khairy for his remarks.

One angry Umno man is Datuk Abdul Rahman, the Pasir Salak MP who was a deputy minister in Najib’s administration.

He said Khairy’s series of tweets criticizing racial sentiments raised by Umno leaders made the former Umno Youth chief “seem too liberal”.

Tajuddin wanted Khairy to “represent himself as a leader of Umno by putting bumiputra rights and Islam first”.

To him, Khairy must “put the pribumis first”.

Tajuddin went on to say: “I am pribumi first and Malaysian second.”

“Pribumi” is Malay for indigenous people, another word for “bumiputra”. Different names but same meaning.

I do not know what Tajuddin’s take on the appointment of Tan Sri Richard Malanjum as Chief Justice of Malaysia. If he is not happy like his fellow Umno leaders, he should throw away his unhappiness.

Based on what he said about a pribumi first, he should not object to Malanjum’s appointment. Instead, he should be thankful, happy, proud, and must support the appointment wholeheartedly.

Why? Because, as pointed out by lawyer Syahredzan Johan, Sabahan Malanjum is a bumiputra and a graduate of UiTM, the higher institute of leaning reserved for bumiputras.

Here is a bumiputra whose credentials and qualifications are second to none. And he is a product of a bumiputra university.

So, the onus is on Tajuddin to support a fellow bumiputra or pribumi, if you like. He should not go bad-mouthing the Chief Justice.

Instead, Tajuddin must be proud of a fellow bumiputra’s achievement.

Do what a good pribumi would do. Go congratulate a fellow bumiputra just like what the bumiputra culture teaches.

– Mysinchew