A Royal Statement

Kelantan Crown Prince Tengku Faris Petra said today that Malays had given into granting non-Malays citizenship and the latter should therefore not seek equality or special treatment.

He said this during his keynote speech at a forum titled “Malay unity is the core of national unity” organised by the newly formed Barisan Bertindak Perpaduan Melayu in Kuala Lumpur today.

“Therefore, the rakyat must unite and never raise issues regarding Malay rights and special privileges because it is a quid pro quo in gratitude for the giving in of citizenship (beri-paksa kerakyatan) to 2.7 million non-Malays into the Tanah Melayu federation.

“Thus, it is not appropriate for these other ethnic groups to have citizenship, only (later) to seek equality and privileges,” said Tengku Faris, who read from a 11-page prepared text.

In his speech, Tengku Faris said the 12th General Election results have shown that the Malays are being “challenged” and thus Malays unity is of the outmost priority.

However, the crown prince stressed that in an effort to unite the Malays, non-Malays also have rights that must be protected, such as in areas of religion.

As an exampleTengku Faris said non-Malays are allowed to practice their respective religions in peace. They must however do so in accordance with the law and “not be provocative towards Islam”.

“The Malay rulers are the head of the Islamic religion and Malaysia is a Islamic country (negara Islam), not secular. We have our own formula (as a country) which is different from others,” he added, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.

-Malaysiakini-

Have I got your attention yet?

I am left totally speechless and extremely offended after reading this piece of article. Ok, let's review piece by piece of what this Crown Prince said.

Malay unity is the core of national unity. Malay unity? What about inter-racial unity? I am really curious as what made him believe that Malay unity is all that matters in the country. Doesn't he know that the country consist of 40% non Malays? What about us? Are we negligible? For humanity's sake, Tengku, you can't be serious.

And then he tried to justify why non-Malays should not be granted equal rights. Apparently, it is because we are not the penduduk asal and since the Malays compromised and had given us citizenship, we shou;d just be grateful and keep our mouth shut. In fact, this is the argument used again and again by many to justify this view.

Ok, first of all, what does it mean to be a citizen? Is it merely the right to practice my religion freely? And that's it? How am I supposed to feel like a citizen when I am constantly reminded (by government policies and also statement like these) that I am a mere pendatang haram?

If the Tengku's view holds any water (it is not appropriate for the non Malays to have citizenship and later seek equal rights) , then, to this day, the blacks in the US will still be repressed and discriminated against.

And Tengku, just so you know, Malays are not even the penduduk asal of this country. The Orang Asli are. Guess you have forgotten about them. Or maybe you don't even know (or care) that they exist.

Then to say that the results of the GE shows Malay rights have been challenged? Are you kidding me? What about "it shows that Malaysians regardless of race, religion and creed have fought as one identity for the betterment of the country"? That never crossed your mind?

And since when is Malaysia an Islamic state? Read the Constitution please! It clearly states that Malaysia is a SECULAR state. I could bet my head on that.

Honestly, I am sick and tired of Malays that see themselves as the ones who are repressed. Add to some who think that they are some sleeping tigers waiting for the right time to awaken and claim back the country.

This kind of views and statements cannot be justified anyways and by anyone under any circumstances. This is discrimination in broad daylight. I just hope that Tengku's view is exclusive to a small minority of Malays. But then again, judging from the applause that he received from the audience, maybe not.