The racial riots of May 13, 1969 should serve as a reminder to Chinese chauvinists within and outside the DAP not to question or neglect Malay rights, Umno Youth exco member Dr Pirdaus Ismail said today.

Although the May 13 riots would not re-occur in these times, it must serve as a reminder that Malay privileges in the country must not be ignored or neglected, he said.

Pirdaus was commenting on a speech by Umno's new deputy permanent chairperson Badruddin Amiruldin who, while waving a book on May 13 yesterday in his speech , warned non-Malays not to question special privileges of the Malays.

"Badruddin did not pose the question to all Chinese in the country. He only directed it at the DAP and Chinese chauvinists," he said at the Putra World Trade Center where the Umno assembly is taking place.

"Those who are with us, such as the MCA and MIC who hold the same understanding as we do were not our target. In defending Malay rights, we direct our voice at those who question them such as the DAP and Chinese chauvinists. Our BN partners have nothing to do with this issue," he stressed.

Pirdaus, head of Umno's Permatang Pauh division, also said that Badruddin was seeking to remind detractors not to question Malay rights that were enshrined in the Federal Constitution in return for citizenship for the minorities.

"It's just a reminder so that we don't raise issues that had been mutually agreed upon by Malays and non-Malays. The DAP, in particular, should not harp on these issues again and again."

'Umno not racist'

Debating party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's policy speech earlier today, Pirdaus pointed out that the party's focus on the Malays was not racism as claimed by PAS but part of the party's religious obligations.

Despite allegations of racism, strengthening the Muslims was a command by God which Umno had long sought to fulfill through economic development, said Pirdaus, a former imam of the national mosque.

"There is a principle in Islamic jurisprudence which says that thing without which an obligation cannot be fulfilled is in turn itself an obligation. If the Malay agenda were strengthened, wouldn't Islam be strenghthened? Wouldn't Islam be strengthened if Malays were strong?" he told the assembly.

"This is an order of Allah which Umno has strived for a long time."