Najib should not have halved Suhakam’s budget from RM10 million but should have abolished the BTN and save over RM50 million

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak showed his true colours of basically unsympathetic to democratic and human rights of Malaysians when he more than halved the 2016 budget of Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) from over RM10 million this year to RM5.5 million for 2016.

What Najib should have done is to maintain Suhakam’s RM10 million ringgit budget and abolished Biro Tata Negara (BTN) which would have saved the government some RM54 million budgetted for next year – especially as BTN has continued to be unrepentant in its negative, divisive and anti-national activity of inciting racism, disunity, bigotry and intolerance instead of fostering patriotism, unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and goodwill.

Even former top Malay civil servants in G25 have condemned BTN of being “ultra Malay-racist”.

The unrepentant, recalcitrant and anti-national mindset of BTN was again illustrated by the defence of the BTN director Raja Arif Raja Ali of derogatory reference of the minorities in the country as “pendatang” when some of them may have been in Malaysia for several generations.

What makes Raja Arif’s defence of the derogatory reference of the term “pendatang” for Chinese and Indians all the more outrageous and inexcusable is that it comes at a time when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was trying to assure the non-Malays in the country by declaring at the national assemblies of the non-Malay Barisan Nasional parties that the Chines and Indians are “sons of Malaysia” and not pendatangs.

When Najib was being questioned about his sincerity in giving such assurances at national assemblies of non-Malay BN parties which he never made at UMNO General Assemblies, BTN’s Raja Arif’s reiteration of the label “pendatang” for Chinese and Indians cuts even deeper than ever and strikes home the question whether Najib is sincere in his assurance that Chinese and Indians are “sons of Malaysia” and not pendatang and his statement is to be taken seriously.

Or is BTN higher in authority not only over the Cabinet Ministers but even the Prime Minister himself?

Will the Cabinet censure the BTN director Raja Arif for justifying the use of the derogatory term “pendatang” on Chinese and Indians in Malaysia?