(Penang, Tuesday): UMNO leaders, from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, downwards are being extremely unreasonable and irresponsible in using Suqiu to justify or condone the provocative actions of the Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS), which openly admitted that it is retaliating to Suqui by upping the ante and resorting to more inflammatory communal rhetoric as making 100 Demands and threatening a 100,000 Malays Protest Rally at Bukit Jalil Stadium after January 14 next year.
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar joined the ranks of UMNO leaders to justify or condone GPMS actions, when he said that the 17-point Suqiu would unavoidably cause a reaction from other parties.
The pertinent question is not whether there are reactions to Suqiu, but whether the reactions are reasonable, commensurate or so wild and reckless as to constitute a threat to national unity and security.
In this particular case, Suqiu has been accused of challenging Malay special rights whereas Suqiu (Elections Appeal) Committee had clarified in black-and-white that it had never intended to suggest that Malay special rights which were stipulated in the Constitution be abolished and that the thrust of its demands was to create a united, democratic, just, progressive and equitable Malaysian nation.
The matter should have been allowed to rest at that stage, as there could be no justification for anyone to try to escalate ethnic tensions by upping the ante and resorting to more inflammatory communal rhetoric, as in demanding that the post of the prime minister be reserved exclusively for only Malays, to raise the quota of intake for Malay students in local public universities to 70 percent, and in private universities and colleges to 60 percent, the issuance of passports only to Malaysians that understand Bahasa Melayu and that the Minister of Education be given the power to dissolve any school, including Chinese vernacular schools. (Malaysiakini 18.12.2000)
What justification is there for GPMS to threaten a 100,000 Malays Protest Rally as retaliation to Suqiu when Suqiu never organised a 100,000 Chinese Rally, 100,000 Indians Rally, 100,000 Malays Rally or even 100,000 Malaysians Rally.
By condoning and justifying the attempt by GPMS to escalate ethnic tensions because of Suqiu, UMNO leaders are not only being extremely unreasonable and irresponsible, but are doing a great disservice to the country by their preparedness to plunge the country into an unprecedented communal crisis which could only frighten away investors, both local and foreign.
If the Cabinet could "accept in principle" the 83 demands of Suqiu before the last general election, even though it was not a genuine and sincere acceptance as the Prime Minister had admitted in Parliament that it was purely motivated by the desire to coral the Chinese votes, it could only mean that UMNO Ministers were nonetheless persuaded that Suqiu did not represent a fundamental constitutional challenge to the Malay special rights.
Or are UMNO leaders admitting that they were so opportunistic in the last general election that they were prepared to agree to the abolition of Malay special rights just to win Chinese votes?
Although MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik has conceded that 98% of the Suqiu demands was acceptable to everybody, all the MCA, Gerakan and SUPP Ministers should make clear their stand as to whether the remaining 2% of the Suqiu demands constituted a challenge to Malay special rights - which had been denied by Suqiu.
GPMS is entitled to formulate and publicise its 100 Demands, but not to up the ante to resort to more inflammatory rhetoric, and I for one am looking forward to the contents of these 100 Demands - which would be an acid test as to the success of the two-decade Prime Ministership of Mahathir in building a more united Malaysian nation and promoting greater Malaysian consciousness as to justify the enunciation of Vision 2020 and the Bangsa Malaysia concept.
(19/12/2000)