UMNO AGM Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has urged Umno members not to question the citizenship of Chinese and Indians born in Malaysia.

She reminded that the Federal Constitution is a form of tolerance between the ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians on the joint rights and special position of the Malay rulers.

"Hence, I urge those not to question the citizenship of the Chinese and Indians who are born here.

“If they (non-Malays) do not question our special rights as the original occupants of this land, we must respect their rights as citizens in this country," she said in her policy speech at the Wanita Umno annual general assembly today.

Shahrizat said she has to remind the delegates of the country's history in this assembly as there are those outside who have their own political agenda.

She said that they are out to violate the integrity of the constitution by creating unrest among all races, split and poison the peoples’ minds by spreading extremist thoughts.

She said maybe they felt that “we in Umno would fight without dignity, would not defend against the slander they made and that is the reason why they want to affect the unity of the country”.

“In this assembly, let me stress that Wanita Umno would not compromise on any individuals out there who are out to question Islam as the official religion, the special rights of the rulers, the Malays and the Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak, or the position of Bahasa Melayu as the national language which is enshrined in the constitution,” said the Wanita Umno chief.

“Malays and bumiputeras have a responsibility to live together in harmony with other races in this country and we must respect their (non-Malays) rights as enshrined in the federal constitution.”

The Umno Wanita chief asked the Chinese, Indians, Eurasians, Punjabi or other non-Malays whether they are being discriminated against in this country and they die starving and have no opportunities to do business.

She asked whether the Malays and bumiputera have monopolised the nation’s riches and political power.

Shahrizat said multi-racial society in the country should refrain from threatening one another.  

“Let Wanita Umno stress in this assembly that enough is enough, we should love and respect each other. I as Wanita Umno chief would like to extend friendship to all Malaysians regardless of race, political affiliations, religion or race.

“We must be thankful with what we have so far. Let us return to the path of building this country,” she said.

Maintain Sedition Act

Shahrizat also voiced her concern over current unhealthy trends of the rise of people making statements with seditious tendencies on the issue of the proposed repeal of Sedition Act 1948.

Describing such acts as irresponsible and mala fide to create unrest among the community, the Wanita Umno chief said these people would also make statements for the people not to be faithful to the Yang di Pertuan Agong, and the Malay rulers who form the basis of the constitutional monarchy.

She said the critics have also questioned the special privileges, sovereignty, or the prerogative of the Malays which are enshrined in the constitution.

For this reason, Shahrizat said Umno Wanita does not agree with the repeal of the Sedition Act 1948.

“Wanita Umno urges the government to maintain the usage of the Sedition Act with slight improvement and take into consideration of looking after the rights (of the Malays) as stated in the constitution. This is to maintain security and national interests.

“At the same time, the proposed drafting of the National Harmony Act should also continue and be promoted to ensure harmony and encourage mutual respect with other races in the country,” she said.

Shahrizat said Wanita Umno and several non-governmental organisations and non-professionals are organising a campaign to get one million signatures to urge the government not to repeal the Sedition Act.

“We hope to gather this signature and hand it over to the prime minister as proof that we view this seriously and hope appropriate action is taken,” the Umno Wanita chief said.

Shahrizat also raised several other issues in her policy speech, including urging the state governments to replace the Malay reserve land taken.

She also spoke of the need for the Islamic Development Department to increase enforcement over Syariah Court decisions that include fathers skipping alimony payments resulting in what was decided to be merely ‘paper judgments’.

The Umno Wanita chief also proposed to make it compulsory for pupils in either primary or secondary school to learn another language namely Arabic, Mandarin or Tamil either in primary or secondary schools.

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