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PM’s race and religion
Good morning. Here are our picks for today.
Key Highlights
Episode 1: PM’s race and religion
Episode 2: Cabinet minister’s race
Episode 3: Race does not matter
Episode 1: PM’s race and religion
After DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang rekindled the debate on non-Malay Muslims becoming the prime minister, Perikatan Nasional wants the matter settled once and for all.
Bersatu lawmaker Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal suggested that the Federal Constitution be amended to ensure that the post is reserved exclusively for Malay Muslims.
He also claimed the move would help Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government reclaim lost ground amongst the Malay electorate.
However, this has ruffled the feathers of those across the South China Sea.
Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) secretary-general Baru Bian said Sarawak and Sabah MPs would not support the move.
Under the Federal Constitution, the only requirement for someone to be prime minister, as per Article 43(2)(a), is that the person must be an MP, who, in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s judgment, has majority support.
Meanwhile, Article 160 defines a Malay as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, and conforms to Malay customs. This definition does not cover Orang Asli or natives of Sabah and Sarawak.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Episode 2: Cabinet minister’s race
Certain quarters are seeing red over the reshuffled cabinet line-up. This is because there is no Tamil minister.
For the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), which hopes to join Perikatan Nasional, this makes Anwar Ibrahim the “worst prime minister” for the community.
However, PSM, which is a proponent of class-based and colour-blind politics, questioned the effectiveness of previous Tamil cabinet ministers since the community remains saddled with socio-economic problems.
MIPP deputy president S Subramaniam argued that the request for a Tamil representative in the cabinet was not racist.
“In Malaysia, close to 85 percent of Indians are Tamils and the main language of communication in the Indian community is Tamil. So it is only fair,” he said.
Anwar had dropped V Sivakumar, who was the sole Tamil-Indian representative, as the human resource minister.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Episode 3: Race does not matter
A heartwarming tale has emerged from Sitiawan, Perak, where a Malaysian Chinese trader has been supporting a Tamil school for the past three decades.
It began when Yek Dong Ping purchased a plot of agricultural land in Ayer Tawar for RM330,000. The said school, SJKT Ladang Ayer Tawar, was already operating on the land at the time.
Yek did not only waive the rent for the school, which was occupying half an acre, but also paid the quit rent for the school.
Last year, representatives from the school approached him to buy the land for expansion and refurbishment.
Yek agreed to sell close to three acres for only RM400,000 despite the land being valued at around RM200,000 an acre. When he was informed that the school was raising funds for this purpose, he donated RM50,000 and capped the selling price at RM350,000.
"A year later, the school representatives approached me again for donation as they were unable to raise the RM350,000," Yek said, adding that he donated another RM50,000.
The trader said his support was a way to "give back" to the Indian rubber tappers who supported him all these years.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Views that matter
 | By S Thayaparan |
 | By R Nadeswaran |
 | By Mohamed Hanipa Maidin |
Other news that matter
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has denied lodging a report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to request social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to remove a post critical of him.
Warisan president Shafie Apdal has asserted that his party is poised to team up with Sabah Umno in the next state assembly election, which is not due until 2025.
The government is looking at encouraging Malaysians who are most vulnerable to infection to take Covid-19 booster shots.
HIGHLIGHTS
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