EXCLUSIVE Much has been said of the Malay rights NGO Perkasa of late. Too much, in fact, says Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

And now, he says the often fiery and vocal NGO is a "monster that the media created".

In the second part of an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini , he also played down the NGO's role, and that they are just one in the plethora of other race-based NGOs in the country.

NONE Just halfway through explaining the stand of Umno, the oldest party in the country, on the Perkasa, Tengku Adnan ( right ) suddenly turned on the reporters, blaming media hype for the NGO's bloated notoriety.

"Perkasa is just one NGO. There are so many NGOs. We would like to be with NGOs which can assist us. Any NGO which disrupts racial harmony and government programmes, we'll distance ourselves.

"We've engaged with them and spoken to them. I believe that some other leaders have spoken to them," he said.

Then all of a sudden without any provocation, the secretary-general became agitated as he addressed the issue.

"Why are you talking about Perkasa? Who created Perkasa? You people, the press. To me, if I have my way, I'd just block it out.

"Let me ask you this. You have created this monster, the press has created this monster. There are other NGOs. Why don't you talk about them?" he asked.

Umno members in Perkasa

When it was pointed out that Perkasa - just formed in 2008 right after the general elections - had already garnered an astounding number of members, with its president Ibrahim Ali claiming the figure of 200,000, with 60 percent coming from Umno, Tengku Adnan blithely dismissed it as a non-issue.

In his turn he pointed out that Umno is not a party to restrict its members from joining various movements, including NGOs.

NONE "Umno has members in various NGOs like Abim (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement), GPMS (Federation of Peninsular Malay Students Associations) and Perkasa. I was also in Abim before, because to us, we like to give our service to society."

He also said that if it was was left to him, there would be a blanket blackout on Perkasa-related news.

"Whatever you have done is wrong. Why always ask about Perkasa? I'd just black it out. No news is good news. You think that they are important but they are not," he said.

But Tengku Adnan made no mistake when it came to which was more important when comparing Umno with Perkasa.

"Umno is the biggest Malay party in this country. Period. And Umno will fight for the Malay cause. Period. And not only that, we will also fight for the non-Malays because because Umno is the leader in the BN.

"We will not deprive the other races in this country," he added.

namewee photo burnt by perkasa members 2 But taking a relatively toned down approach towards Perkasa as compared to his downright disdain for the NGO as seen in interviews with the New Straits Times and The Malaysian Insider , Tengku Adnan said that the party will engage with them like all the other NGOs.

"It's an independent NGO and we engage with them similar to how we engage with Dong Jiao Zong, Hindraf and even other Malay NGOs like Abim and GPMS.

"To us, Umno likes to be friendly with anyone. but more importantly, we don't want them to disrupt racial harmony. Yes, Umno is a Malay party but we're also an umbrella for the future.

"If Umno is strong, the country will be strong."

VIDEO | 2.41 mins

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