UMNO ASSEMBLY Federal agencies must be "tough" on firms affiliated to or support Pakatan Rakyat since Umno’s business community is allegedly being sidelined by the opposition-led Selangor government.

Selangor delegate Mohd Haniff Koslan said Umno businessmen are "treated like stepchildren" and kicked from one Pakatan component party to another when they ask for opportunities.

"The federal agencies should similarly be tough on the other side.

“If they give us rocks then we should also give them rocks," he said while debating the motion on the economy at the Umno general assembly.

Mohd Haniff, who is a businessman himself, said that Malays are deprived of fair trading opportunities especially in the capital city.

“Malays are not given space in strategic places like (shopping malls) Pavillion and Suria KLCC.

“They can only look at the things sold, but they can’t even afford them,” he said.

As such, he said government-linked companies should be tasked to create more Malay millionaires.

He said if one GLC can produce one Malay millionaire in two to three years, five GLCs can produce 10 in six years.

“GLCs were formed to help Malays,” he said, urging GLCs to also be monitored to meet the target.

Mohd Haniff said that without economic prowess the “rightful masters” (ketuanan) of the land and will become “slaves”.

He also cited research published in the 1940s stating that “the ancestors of Malays” set foot in the Malay archipelago more than 10,000 years ago.

He said this “ancestor” is the proto-Malay, whose heirs include, among others, the Senoi and Jakun.

However, he did not mention that the Senoi and Jakun are Orang Asli tribes and not Malays.