FMT EXCLUSIVE KUALA LUMPUR: Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali isn't short on opinions. Neither is he hesitant about airing them, a trait that has seen him courting controversy and fending off brickbats.
But Ibrahim doesn't allow himself the luxury of being perturbed by the roar of approval or outrage that his views elicit.
The straight-talking independent Pasir Mas MP is more concerned with speaking up on issues that he deems are poorly represented or simply overlooked.
In this third and final part of his exclusive interview, he shared his stand on 1Malaysia education, the failure of Umno and PAS and Perkasa's road ahead.
FMT: What will your stand be in the next general election?
Ibrahim Ali: I've been too busy with Perkasa to think about the future of my political career and it's also too early for that now. At the moment, I'm very happy with my current position and if I have the means I will stand as an independent again. But I am also open to negotiations with other parties to enable me to contest in a straight fight instead of a three-cornered one.
Will Perkasa be a political party in the future?
I am against it because we have enough political parties in this country. Perkasa should remain an NGO but still play a role in shaping the political landscape by forming public opinion.
How is Perkasa funded?
We don't receive any donation from anyone. We only survive on membership funds. During our big events, we collect donations from members. But we don't receive any money from Umno or Dr Mahathir (Mohamad).
How many members does Perkasa have?
We have 50,000 official members right now and more than 200,000 unprocessed membership forms.
Do you think that Mahathir's support helped draw in the members?
I must admit that Mahathir's positive remarks of Perkasa have won us a lot of support. He even defended me as Perksasa chief. I really appreciate this. I don't think it's because he likes me but because he believes in standing for what is right. This is what sets him apart from other leaders.
Describe a model leader who truly looks out for Malay interests.
He should be in the government, practises straight talk and speaks up against any groups whose demands contradict the Federal Constitution. The problem arises when a leader manipulates political statements and tries to please everyone without referring to the constitution.
The biggest problem today is the misinterpretation of 1Malaysia by the opposition and certain NGOs. Perkasa understands the 1Malaysia concept as people first, performance now. The prime minister has already established that this concept is within the constitutional framework.
But there are certain people, like (DAP supremo) Lim Kit Siang, who have blatantly misinterpreted it as 'Malaysian Malaysia'. These people are the biggest hypocrites. If we are talking about 'bangsa Malaysia', then let's just have national schools and abolish all vernacular ones. It's ridiculous and hypocritical to talk about 'bangsa Malaysia' while still protecting your mother tongue.
DAP's demands are actually against 'bangsa Malaysia' and Perkasa takes these views very seriously. But DAP will survive as long as it continues using the racist and chauvinist political line.
Is PAS doing enough to safeguard Malay interests?
Its role as a defender of Malay rights was forfeited the moment it collaborated with DAP. Now it has no clear direction. I believe this is why the Malays and Muslims have turned to Perkasa. They see that PAS has deviated from its original struggle and is less vocal on Malay issues.
When issues involving Malays or Islam are raised in Parliament, PAS keeps silent because it wants to avoid the issue being blown up by DAP. But DAP has no problems lashing out on issues that it deems important whether it affects PAS or not.
Even Umno is very calculative and careful when touching on Malay issues following the last general election. Umno Youth should be taking up a lot of issues but its leader is keeping quiet.
This is how Perkasa gets support. We don't campaign to sell it like a marketing agency. The Malays are frustrated because Umno isn't doing enough to protect their interests and PAS is busy selling Islam to DAP.
How different is Umno Youth today from it was before?
I was an Umno Youth exco member and a divisional Youth leader, and I daresay that the Umno Youth today is completely different from what it was back then.
I had to be a divisional head for one term before qualifying as an exco member. From there, it takes years to reach the position of Youth leader. But Khairy Jamaluddin appeared out of nowhere and shot to the top.
He was found guilty of money politics but no action was taken against him. He wasn't a student leader or an activist and had no prior experience in such a position. He was just the son-in-law of the former premier. So what can you expect when he took over as Youth leader?
Khairy's favourite issue is attacking Anwar (Ibrahim). Good lah, because I'm also attacking Anwar. But what about other national issues? Umno Youth should talk about corruption, abuse of power, good governance and transparency like we did before.
We were able to do that because we were clean, not involved in big government projects and not the premier's son-in-law. So we could talk freely on any important national issues. Today they only pick up on one or two merely for their political survival.
Who do you think should be the next Umno Youth leader?
It's too early to predict but there are many candidates. The deputy chief Razali Ibrahim is one of them. If you want someone from the old group who is still fiery, then consider Tajuddin Rahman (Pasir Salak MP). If I were as still in Umno, I would consider the position myself.
How would you rate the prime minister and the deputy prime minister's leadership?
Najib (Tun Razak) is working very hard but the main question is, what has changed since he took over and how do the people feel about the change?
When Najib and Muhyiddin (Yassin) took over, the country was in very bad shape both politically and economically. It wasn't easy for them to achieve success in a short period of time but there are already some improvements taking place. To me, Najib's survival depends on the country's economy. If the 10th Malaysia Plan and the upcoming budget truly benefit the country and the people, then everything will be fine.
Malaysians also place high importance on national security and they have experienced BN long enough to know that this is guaranteed under the party. Right now, they are unhappy with the current situation but if the economy improves, BN will win back the majority and take back all the states.
On national security.
When it comes to sensitive issues, we have to decide whether we want national security or continue pushing an issue because of pride or on the basis of human rights. There are times you have to give and take for the sake of security and unity.
On education.
The meritocracy system in education doesn't work because it deprives the have-nots in the country. Scholarships are meant for the poor Malay, Chinese and Indian students in rural areas, not the urban ones whose families can take care of their education.
I want to see opportunities given to poor students with 5As instead of rich students with 9As. It has been proven that students can achieve excellent results in university even if they enter with minimum qualifications. The government spends RM1.4 billion on scholarships for just 1,500 students. How many of them are poor?
I want to see rural schools enjoying the same facilities as urban schools. I want to see graduate teachers in these schools. Why doesn't anyone talk about the equality of all schools under 1Malaysia?
I also want all boarding schools to be abolished because not everyone can get in due to the limited places. And those who can afford boarding schools are those who are also awarded scholarships.
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