Pertubuhan Pembela Nasib Melayu (Gerakan Merah) president Mohd Ali Baharom, better known as ‘Ali Tinju’, launched the group’s T-shirt at an event last night in Kuala Lumpur.

The red T-shirts feature the words ‘Aku Melayu’ (I am a Malay), and will be worn at the group’s upcoming counter-demonstrations against the #TangkapMO1 rally on Aug 27, as well as the Bersih 5 rally.

The group is separate from another group of ‘red shirts’ led by Jamal Md Yunus, which also opposes the Bersih 5 rally. The design of the shirts is also different.

According to Ali, 2,000 T-shirts are available. Some were distributed at the launch event, together with the Jalur Gemilang.

Amid the red, white, yellow, and blue of the national flags that adorned the venue in Cheras, Gerakan Merah deputy president Amran Sameon said the movement was to defend the democratically-elected government of Malaysia, alongside Malaysians of other ethnicities, particularly from external threats.

“‘Aku Melayu’ is a struggle and a spirit. We are not demanding something that is racist, meaning that we are fighting for all races, which is Malays fighting alongside the Chinese, the Indians, and all Malaysians who want to defend our constitution and our democracy.

“We don’t want anyone to try to threaten the government chosen by the people. This is being done by certain quarters, so this is what we are fighting for - so that democracy in Malaysia is preserved,” he told the audience of over 100 people.

Several other speakers at the two-hour-long ceramah-style event strenuously warned the media against portraying the event as racist, instead saying that they are fighting for all peace-loving Malaysians.

Meanwhile, Ali told the audience that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s predicament now is similar to that of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the run-up to the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, except for one key difference.

“As we know, the Jews wanted to kill Saddam Hussein. They used the Western media to spin the story as though there are nuclear weapons in Iraq.

“Here, we see that Malaysiakini is like the Western media twisting stories so that the people would resent the ruling government.

“Remember, after the Americans entered Iraq, they attacked relentlessly but in the end, no nuclear weapons had been found in Iraq to this day.

“But the problem was that the Iraqis were not united. On the other hand, I would say that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is getting phenomenal support from Malaysians, because Malaysians love their country,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at the launch, Ali said his group would bring some 5,000 people to protest against the Aug 27 #TangkapMO1 rally.

He said Gerakan Merah would start gathering at Sogo Shopping Centre at around 10am, before marching to Dataran Merdeka.

Different methods, same goals

Asked about Jamal and his Himpunan Merah group, Ali said he and Jamal have different methods, but they both share the same goals of defending the government.

The student-led #TangkapMO1 rally is to pressure the Malaysian government to reveal who is the individual codenamed ‘Malaysian Official 1’ in the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) court filings last month.

A separate group of students emerged yesterday to condemn the rally, and argued that it was incumbent on the DOJ to reveal the identity instead, although the DOJ had said court rules prohibit them from doing so.

As for the Bersih 5 rally, it is to pressure the government to take action on the revelations in the DOJ’s 136-page court filing regarding the 1MDB scandal. Its time and venue have yet to be decided.

Najib is widely speculated to be Malaysian Official 1.

The DOJ has alleged that Malaysian Official 1 received at least US$731 million out of the US$3.5 billion supposedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

However, the premier has consistently denied wrongdoing, while Malaysian attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali said there was no evidence of misappropriation in 1MDB so far, although one police investigation is still pending.