Malay rights pressure group Perkasa has urged the authorities to come down hard on Christian pastor Rev Eu Hong Seng for allegedly questioning Article 153 of the federal constitution during a Christmas function last Saturday.

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said Rev Eu Hong Seng had allegedly questioned the rights of the Malays and bumiputera and this warranted action, especially from the police.

ibrahim ali perkasa 271211 Ibrahim said the social contract, which has been agreed upon by all races when the country gained independence, should not be questioned.

"We will be lodging a police report (tomorrow) following the remarks made and we want the police to act by investigating and taking action under the Sedition Act 1948.

"I do not want the authorities to use the Internal Security Act on the pastor as the law is to be repealed. However, they can use existing laws, such as the Sedition Act, on those who continue to question this," he said.

Ibrahim, who is also Pasir Mas MP, said he was not a racist by stating this, because he wanted the country to remain peaceful. Therefore, constitutional provisions on Malay rights should not be questioned.

Avoiding another May 13

He said Malays were still inferior economically compared with  the other races and this would create social imbalance in society if people continued to question Malay special privileges.

"In the Philippines and in South Africa, there is unrest as the original inhabitants are worse off.

"Hence, we do not want this happening in Malaysia. If there is social imbalance, it may create another May 13 (riots) and this is something we want to avoid as we want to co-exist well with the other races.

"We must respect Malay and Islamic rights as we do respect the rights of other races as enshrined under the constitution," Ibrahim said.

Reverend Eu Hong Seng The Christmas hi-tea event was organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), which is an umbrella group of most churches in the country.

Eu ( left ) had opined in his speech at the event that Article 153 had been abused to emphasise the rights of the majority.

He argued that this had resulted in the “bullying” of the minorities. Eu heads the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF), which is one of CFM's three member bodies.

'Don't rally for Anwar'

Perkasa also claimed that there was an attempt to cause unrest on Jan 9, when the High Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on the Sodomy II trial of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

       

“A website is calling for a repeat of Tahrir Square on that day also claimw Anwar is innocent. No one is above the law, and the people should not judge this case (now)," Ibrahim said.

“When  we ask him to take a religious oath, he does not want to do it and asks the people to be the judge. I call on all Malaysians who love peace to respect the law and the constitution.

“Do not participate in the gathering for Anwar’s personal gain, which will result in the country descending into chaos,” he added.

Ibrahim said the case had been heard in open court and Anwar could not claim that this was a conspiracy involving the prosecution and the police, as he had claimed before.

Should Anwar be found guilty, Ibrahim said, he still had the opportunity to appeal the decision in the higher courts.

Hasan Ali: Time will tell   

On former Selangor PAS chief Hasan Ali rejecting Perkasa’s overtures, Ibrahim hinted that there woulf still be attempts to cajole Haan to join Perkasa.

“We made the offer sincerely and it is still open. This is politics... Maybe later he may take up the offer. We are offering him a platform.

“If he wants to promote his views on Islam and the monarchy, he may not want to be cooperating with the DAP. We will see. Time will tell whether Hasan is a hero for the Muslims and Malay rulers,” he said.

On Dec 24, Hasan said publicly that he did not intend to accept Ibrahim's invitation to join Perkasa.

"I thank him for the offer, but for now I would like work on the current platform that I have. I would like to focus on my message of defending Islam, Malays and royalty.

“I cannot have one foot here and another foot there,” said Hasan, who has been receiving brickbats from party leaders after he criticised them for allegedly straying from Islam.