I refer to the statement by former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah who is reported in Malaysiakini to have said that new Muslim converts are ‘Special Malays’ based on the constitution and they must be given special rights as Malays.

In Malaysia, new converts to Islam cannot be recognised as Malays as Article 160 of the federal constitution does not allow it. In fact, the new arrivals of Indonesians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis descent, too, cannot qualify to be Malay.

To remove this misconception of many, let me quote Article 160 in full:

"Malay means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom and

"(a) was before Merdeka born in the Federation or in Singapore or born of parents one of whom was born in the Federation or in Singapore, or is on that day domiciled in the Federation or in Singapore, or

"(b) is the issue of such persons."

Thus, it is clear from the above definition that in order to qualify to be a 'Malay', one must not only profess the religion of Islam, habitually speak the Malay language, conform to Malay custom but must also comply with either (a) or (b) above, that is, must in addition be born before Merdeka Day in the federation or born of parents one of whom was born in the federation or on that day was domiciled in the federation or is the issue of such persons.

Therefore new converts and immigrants cannot qualify to be a 'Malay' as they do not fulfil the constitutional requirement in Article 160 of the federal constitution.

Lastly, it is pertinent to mention that it was the late Onn Jaafar, who became the first Umno president in 1946, who was instrumental in including this definition of 'Malay' in the Federation of Malaya Agreement in 1948 and later this definition was incorporated into the federal constitution to protect the Malays.

The definition of Malay is important as if unqualified persons are given special privileges, then it would mean genuine Malays having to compete for scholarships, jobs, etc. with them and it will also put a strain on the country's resources.

The writer is president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).