Prime Minister Najib says that the Cabinet has decided to keep the column in line with existing policy and practise.
TAIPING: The Cabinet has not decided to do away with the ‘race’ column in government official forms, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said today.
He said there had been no change in the government policy pertaining to the forms.
“We (the Cabinet) discussed the matter and the decision was to retain the existing policy and practice,” he told reporters after opening the Taiping Umno building here, reported Bernama.
The media today reported quoting Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Entulu Belaun that the Cabinet had decided to drop the ‘race’ column in government official forms that had no value added.
Najib said he had been informed that Entulu would issue a statement of apology over the mistake.
“For the sake of statistics, we need it (the race column). Otherwise, we will not have the statistics (by race),” he said.
The prime minister said the statistics by race was necessary to facilitate government monitoring of the progress of every community in the country.
“It is the responsibility of the government to do whatever it can for any community left behind to ensure a balance in the distribution of wealth and opportunities in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malay rights group Perkasa is grateful that Najib has denied that the government plans to write off the race column in the government official forms.
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, in a statement today, insisted that Perkasa will not hesitate to bring matters like this to court.
“Whatever the government wants to do, it should not violate the constitution,” he said.
Ibrahim said Perkasa has hired two law firms to study the case with the intention of taking the government to court if it continued with its plans.
Gerakan: Don’t fall for Perkasa’s empty threats
Responding to Perkasa’s threat to sue the government over the matter, Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang the Malay right-wing movement was wrong in saying the removal of the ‘race’ column would be unconstitutional.
“There’s no provision in the Federal Constitution that makes it mandatory for the government to include the ‘race’ column in all official forms.
“We would like to reiterate that the insertion of the ‘race’ column in official forms is at the discretion of the government,” he said today.
He reminded Perkasa not to make empty threats if “they can’t even state which provision in the Federal Constitution that make it compulsory to insert ‘race’ column”.
He added that Gerakan Youth believed that the removal of the ‘race’ column in official forms was the way forward for Malaysia.
He said there had been no change in the government policy pertaining to the forms.
“We (the Cabinet) discussed the matter and the decision was to retain the existing policy and practice,” he told reporters after opening the Taiping Umno building here, reported Bernama.
The media today reported quoting Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Entulu Belaun that the Cabinet had decided to drop the ‘race’ column in government official forms that had no value added.
Najib said he had been informed that Entulu would issue a statement of apology over the mistake.
“For the sake of statistics, we need it (the race column). Otherwise, we will not have the statistics (by race),” he said.
The prime minister said the statistics by race was necessary to facilitate government monitoring of the progress of every community in the country.
“It is the responsibility of the government to do whatever it can for any community left behind to ensure a balance in the distribution of wealth and opportunities in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malay rights group Perkasa is grateful that Najib has denied that the government plans to write off the race column in the government official forms.
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, in a statement today, insisted that Perkasa will not hesitate to bring matters like this to court.
“Whatever the government wants to do, it should not violate the constitution,” he said.
Ibrahim said Perkasa has hired two law firms to study the case with the intention of taking the government to court if it continued with its plans.
Gerakan: Don’t fall for Perkasa’s empty threats
Responding to Perkasa’s threat to sue the government over the matter, Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang the Malay right-wing movement was wrong in saying the removal of the ‘race’ column would be unconstitutional.
“There’s no provision in the Federal Constitution that makes it mandatory for the government to include the ‘race’ column in all official forms.
“We would like to reiterate that the insertion of the ‘race’ column in official forms is at the discretion of the government,” he said today.
He reminded Perkasa not to make empty threats if “they can’t even state which provision in the Federal Constitution that make it compulsory to insert ‘race’ column”.
He added that Gerakan Youth believed that the removal of the ‘race’ column in official forms was the way forward for Malaysia.
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