Ibrahim Ali: I am loyal to King first, Malaysian second

Ibrahim Ali claims he is loyal to King first, and Malaysia second - file pic

PASIR MAS, Sept 25 — Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali spelled out his own brand of 1Malaysia last night when he proclaimed that he was loyal to the King first and Malaysian second.

The Pasir Mas MP explained that loyalty to king will bring stability and common understanding among the different races in the counry.

“The Deputy Prime Minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) has said that he is Malay first and Malaysian second. Datuk Nazri (Aziz) said that he is Malaysian first and Malay second. My stance is that simple for me as a Malaysian, we must all give our loyalty to the king.

“When we are loyal to the king then we are loyal and respect the constitution. If we practice this then only can we have a common understanding,” he told reporters after attending the movement’s lantern festival here.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz recently declared that he was “Malaysian first and Malay next” in a open letter to Utusan Malaysia columnist Awang Selamat, published on The Malaysian Insider.

“And yes, I am a Malaysian first and Malay next. Does any bigot have a problem with that?” Nazri had said when concluding his letter.

The letter was written to rebut the columnists comments on him in his article “Alahai Nazri...”, where he responded to Nazri’s views of Perkasa and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Nazri’s statement is a total opposite to that of Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who famously said once that he was Malay first and Malaysian second.

The opposition fired a series of salvoes on Muhyiddin following his statement, accusing the latter of working against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.

The independent MP argued that 1Malaysia does not guarantee equal rights to everybody.

“I understand the concept of 1 Malaysia even though many do not understand it. For example, in a family there is a husband, a wife, children, a cook, cleaner and a sweeper. Everybody in this house has their own rights. They have all the rights but they rights differ from one another.

“A wife does not have the same right as the husband. A child does not have the same right as the father or mother. Even a sweeper that sweeps in our room has rights but that does not mean that they can sleep on our bed,” he said.