PERKASA – A MISGUIDED RIGHTS GROUP: by Brigadier General (R) Dato Muhammad Arshad

A friend called up to invite me to attend a gathering in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur this February 27, 2009 in support of PERKASA, a Malay rights group founded by one Datuk Ibrahim Ali. I remembered that name well; a fire-brand Malay politician from Kelantan (is neither an UMNO or a PAS party member) who is now left without any political base to shove his wavering political career.

When the name Ibrahim Ali was mentioned, I said to my friend that I have no liking for him, and if he (Ibrahim Ali) is sincere in his cause to champion the Malay rights, he does not need PERKASA. He could have done it in his capacity as a member of parliament, of which he is one. Why than does he need PERKASA is something that I could not fathom. Anyway, I do not trust politicians heading an NGO or rights group.

Being a politician without any significant political base and who is likely to be ousted in the next general election, I think he needs PERKASA more than any other Malays. And if it is true that his argument to form PERKASA is to champion the cause of Malay rights, why than do we need UMNO? Isn’t UMNO the ‘outfit’ to do the championing, or has UMNO lost that cause, and has instead being relegated to a toothless Malay political party?

I sense something strange in this person named Ibrahim Ali. I believe it is not about championing Malay rights which he says is slowly eroding. Does he not know that the Malay rights are well entrenched in the constitution? What is eroding is the support that people has for him, and this has caused him to fear losing a place in national politics and to be thrown into oblivion come the next general elections. I am sure his constituents in Kelantan have had enough of his antics that are filled with rhetoric, and less of substance.

I apologized to my friend that I will not make it for the gathering, and my presence or absence will not be a lost to Ibrahim Ali himself. I think I have greater things to do that day than to listen to some misguided politicians whom I have little regards for.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION