Go back to school PEMBELA
Pembela tells Rafidah to hit the books
The Muslim group says her recent call for an end to race identification borders on treason.
PETALING JAYA: Pembela, a coalition of Muslim NGOs, has ticked off former Wanita Umno leader Rafidah Aziz for urging Malays to stop identifying themselves by their race and to live with the reality that they are part of a culturally diverse nation.
Pembela Chairman Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Nordin was quoted by Isma’s website as saying that Rafidah needed to go back to her books so that she would better understand the Federal Constitution and the history of the Malaysian struggle for independence.
“I’m amazed that a former Cabinet minister, a former leader of a Malay party, does not know about the constitutional guarantees for the special position of the Malays,” he said.
“Who is she to deny the Malays what they are entitled to?”
He also warned Rafidah that her statement bordered on treason and urged her to study the Seven Decrees of the Malay Rulers, which some activists have argued is a document that the Constitution drew inspiration from.
The document was issued when the Malay rulers signed the agreement to form the Federated Malay States. The seven decrees are:
- We shall call this land Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.
- NO-ONE SAID OR CLAIMED OTHERWISE
- We declare that up to 50 percent of mountains, lakes, forest reserves and Malay reserve land are kept for our children and grandchildren with the rest for other races.
- NO NON-MALAY HAS CROSSED THIS BOUNDARY
- We set up the Royal Malay Regiment to protect you, your children and grandchildren and your properties and to quell unrest and external threats.
- CAN NAME AND SHOW EVIDENCE PROPERTIES, UNREST AND EXTERNAL THREATS
- We retain and guarantee the government and the sovereignty of the Malay rulers in this nation.
- ALL GOVERNMENT TOP POST ARE IN THE HANDS OF THE MALAYS
- We declare that Islam is the official religion of the federation.
- NO-ONE SAID OR CLAIMED OTHERWISE
- We state that Malay is the national language.
- NO-ONE SAID OR CLAIMED OTHERWISE
- We entrust the Malay rulers to safeguard the special position of the Malays and the legitimate interests of other communities.
- NO-ONE SAID OR CLAIMED OTHERWISE
Hafiz said Rafidah should have instead advised non-Malays to respect the “original inhabitants of this Malay land and the people who came earlier than others to inhabit it.”
HELLO THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS WERE THE ORANG ASLI AND INDIANS. THEN CAME THE CHINESE AND INDONS.
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