Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) believes that it is “improper” to label Malays as ‘ pendatang ’ (immigrants) as they are actually ‘ perantau ’ (travellers) who ended up in Malaysia.

As such, Isma vice-president Muhammad Fauzi Asmuni ( left ) said, Gerakan delegate Tan Lai Soon’s claim that Malays are also ‘ pendatang ’ goes against “all facts of history”.

“I am not sure whether Tan had referred to any study to conclude that the Malays are ‘ pendatang ’.

“Because, if he had referred to the Malays who come from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Borneo, he cannot call them pendatang ,” Fauzi said on Isma's website.

Fauzi explained that the term “ perantau ” best describes Malays who had migrated from there as they had come from different parts of the Malay Archipelago.

“When we say Malay peninsula, we do not refer to Malaysia only. The Malay Archipelago is a region where people move from one location to another.

“That is why the term ‘perantau’ is a more accurate term,” he said, adding that the Malays cannot be called ‘pendatang’ as they have long settled here.

Tan ( right ), while debating the Gerakan president’s policy speech on Sunday, said that all races, including the Malays, are pendatang.

He was using the argument to call on Umno members to stop making remarks about the non-Malays being 'pendatang'.

'What more do they want?'

Meanwhile, Fauzi opined that it was up to the non-Malays to use other terms to describe themselves if they are “sensitive” about using the word “ pendatang ”.

Hitting out at those who want to change the country’s identity, he said this proved that they do not understand the concept of native country.

“If we go to China, for example, and ask to change the country’s concept, I am sure they will not agree,” he said.

Fauzi added that the Malays never prevented others from gaining a livelihood, pointing out also that an ethnic Chinese is the country’s richest man.

“So what more do they want? There are Chinese schools and Tamil schools. They get to have all those things here.

“When outsiders enter any country, will they be accepted as citizens easily? Of course they won’t,” he said.

Related stories

'Suhakam, probe Uthaya's prison horror stories'

Prison 'gayong' as shocking as 'black eye'

Gerakan's Tan Lai Soon being made a scapegoat?