National Civics Bureau (BTN) director Raja Arif Raja Ali should not openly defy Prime Minister Najib Razak by tagging Malaysians of Chinese and Indians descent as pendatang (immigrants), said Penang MCA.
The party’s youth chief Michael Lee Beng Seng today said that Malaysia was a multi-ethnic country with all ethnic groups involved in the founding and the struggle for independence for the country.
“We are all Malaysians, regardless of whether we are Chinese or Indians. If someone was tagged pendatang , it will hurt them very much,” Lee said in a statement.
"No Malaysian can be called pendatang ,” he said.
"How dare Raja Arif, a government official, openly defy the prime minister? It is inexcusable,” Lee added.
On Nov 7, Raja Arif said it was not wrong to label the country's minorities as immigrants, saying the problem lies with the usage of the word.
He said historical origins of the various races should not denied.
Lee said Raja Arif may be the director of BTN but his thinking was ‘very extreme and racist’.
He proposed that Raja Arif himself undergo training, designed from SPM school leavers under the BTN.
He reminded Raja Arif that Najib had already announced - at MIC's annual general meeting on Nov 6 - that the Indians were not immigrants.
Similarly, Najib had also declared on Oct 8 - during Gerakan's national delegates meeting - that the Chinese were not immigrants.
'Founding members'
Lee asked: “So how dare Raja Arif say that it is not wrong to describe the Chinese as pendatang ?
He added that many generations of Chinese and Indians had been living in this homeland of theirs.
“In the past, there were some ethnic communities who arrived earlier and there were some who arrived relatively late to Malaya,” he added.
“But the three major ethnic groups were the founding members of the nation and they each gained citizenship in the country,” Lee added.
“No one should issue ‘first come, first served’ remarks anymore,” Lee said in urging all politicians and government officials to cease with all racist views.
