Perkasa members pine for return of old Umno

Longing for the good old days. — Picture by Jack Ooi

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

AMPANG, Jan 30 — What started out as one man’s mission, Perkasa is fast gathering traction with sections of the Malay community who feel Umno was no longer championing their cause.

Ahmad Zaini Ismail, 40 has been an Umno member since the late 1980s, but six months ago, he became very active in the Malay nationalist movement, Perkasa, and was now its Perak chairman.

“I am still loyal to Umno, but circumstances have changed, so I need another platform to continue fighting for the Malays,” said Zaini, who was also an Umno branch chairman in Perak.

As a branch chief, Zaini was also part of the movement in Umno that sought to oust former prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi after Election 2008.

Despite being led by Datuk Ibrahim Ali, an independent MP, Perkasa has also been able to attract many Umno leaders who were keen to ride on the movement’s popularity.

The Selangor Perkasa launch today was also attended by the Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Noh Omar. Several Umno Youth executive committee members were also seen mingling with the state Perkasa delegates.

Zaini said Umno was not doing enough to address the community’s problems, adding that this has resulted in loss of confidence to the party among the Malays. His concern was the lack of opportunities for rural Malays to improve their livelihood.

“During my time, scholarships [and] boarding schools were reserved for the poor, for the Malays from rural areas. Now [when] you go to UiTM, [or if] you go to some boarding schools, you see so many nice cars [there]. Are these people really entitled to be there?” asked Zaini, a son of rubber tapper in rural Perak and who studied in the United States on a government scholarship.

“Opportunities are now monopolised by the successful,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Zaini, like many in Perkasa, believe that the movement’s struggle reflects the original objectives behind the formation of Umno in 1946.

But some Perkasa leaders were motivated by what they referred to as “threats” to the Malay community and their Islamic faith.

Selangor Perkasa chairman, Abdullah Mansor, in his speech spoke at length on the insistence of church leaders over the use of the word “Allah” to refer to God in Malay, describing the move as a threat to Muslims.

He also slammed PAS’ Shah Alam MP, Khalid Samad, who defended the use of the word by non-Muslims.

“In Selangor, Khalid Samad is so vocal in defending their right to use the word ‘Allah’. From what I know, the Christians form only nine per cent of the population, why is he championing the minority?” said Abdullah.

Sabah Perkasa chief, Musli Oli said the position of the Malays has been in danger since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as the prime minister in 2003.

“The Malays only felt safe in [the] 22 years when Tun Dr Mahathir was the prime minister,” Musli told Selangor Perkasa delegates.

“Tun Mahathir was the man who saved the Malays in Sabah by bringing in Umno to Sabah on the Feb 22, 1991,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Perkasa chief, Abang Nasser Abang Hadari asked the Malays in the Peninsula to emulate the Malays in Sarawak for their ability to politically control the state despite being a minority group.