Perkasa: Champions of Malays? – Tariq Ismail

Dear Syed Hassan Ali,

Negara ini ada 15 juta rakyat Melayu... Perkasa ada berapa ahli? (This country has 15 million Malays... how many members does Perkasa have?)

Think about this carefully before you answer, because you and your ragtag band of cowboys, Perkasa, do not represent the Malay race – or have any of you ever done anything for the Malay race.

Tan Sri Yahya Awang is the nephew of Tun Dr Ismail, and his late father Tan Sri Awang was a former MP of Muar and Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat who eventually became the fifth Governor of Penang.

He has operated on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad back in 1989, when the latter had to undergo a coronary artery bypass surgery.

In addition to that, Yahya helped with the set-up of Institut Jantung Negara (IJN), and performed the first heart transplant here in Malaysia in 1998.

He has done more for the Malays and Malaysia as a whole in his career than you and your ragtag band can do in your lifetime.

Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, herself being a descendant of the Daeng Sedili clan was the former ambassador to the Netherlands.

She has contributed much to Malaysia and Malaysians especially during her time as Under-Secretary of the newly formed Territorial and Maritime Division of the Foreign Ministry.

Responsible for the management of territorial and maritime disputes between Malaysia and a number of neighbouring countries (among other duties), this division has ensured the peace of the country during its management of the Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan dispute with Indonesia, the Pulau Batu Puteh dispute with Singapore, and the overlapping claims involving five other littoral states of the South China Sea.

Out of the 25, I have only mentioned two who so happen to be my relatives. What of the other 23 Malays? You can't match one what more 25.

What have you or your ragtag band done to create awareness about the Malays, or what the Malays are capable of? What have any of you done to help anyone other than yourselves?

Calling them out with regards to the kalimah Allah issue is simply petty and childish; of course they will sit on the sidelines on this matter.

If they had sided with the non-Muslims and said this issue is unIslamic, you will brand them as munafiks or worse, traitors.

If they had sided you, it will be unconstitutional and tantamount to treason. Common sense should have told you it was a stupid question to ask.

What is plainly clear to all (except yourselves, it seems) is that shouting and threatening others isn’t helping anyone – and that after all this while, you still don't get it. Malays need to naturally evolve – even as the poor need help.

Do the Malays need role models such as you? No, what we Malays need are role models who are the spirit of Malaysia, those who believe in partnerships and inclusiveness. What we need is for Umno and BN to reject you and any other like-minded individuals.

The noise you and the likes of you create about May 13, 1969 is so obviously the result of skewed thinking. What does another May 13 accomplish? Besides feeding your selfish egos, it would only allow another calamity that will set the Malay race back decades.

I will not stand for this, because it contravenes what my late grandfather and the late Tun Razak set out to do. Forty plus years of hard work will come to naught if the likes of you are allowed to bay as wild dogs do.

We need more Malays of Yahya and Noor Farida’s calibre. At this point, it seems that only esteemed Malays of the aristocracy can help the Malays – not bigots like you.

Please, pick up a book or two to learn about our rich history – what is plainly clear for all to see is that the Malays don’t need you, and Malaysia does not want you.

To me, you are the traitor of the Malays.

* Tariq Ismail reads The Malaysian Insider.