Selangor skewers Dr M’s record in defending Malay interests

By Ida Lim
The Malaysian Insider
March 13, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 ― Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s political secretary today slammed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s for his inconsistent defence of Malay and Bumiputera interests, following the former prime minister’s plea for the group to back Barisan Nasional in Election 2013.

Faekah Husin also defended the state’s Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administration from Dr Mahathir’s recent remarks that the special rights of Malays and the position of Islam will be threatened if the pact retains its hold on Selangor in Election 2013.

“Dr Mahathir is still singing an old song; song of racism and to frighten Malays and to refresh racial clashes, after he planted seeds of hatred towards other races and adherents of other faiths among the people during his 22 years of rule,” she wrote in an open letter to Dr Mahathir dated today.

Faekah pointed to Umno’s alleged abuses when it had been in power in Selangor, saying that the party once led by Dr Mahathir owns hundreds of acres of land in the state that they allegedly only paid a minimum premium of RM100 per acre.

She said that much of these plots of land were sold for hefty profits to private development firms owned by non-Bumiputeras, adding that this pointed to the hypocrisy of Umno. But she was quick to say she was not questioning the non-Bumiputeras’ ownership of land.

“We also found out that during Umno’s rule in Selangor, thousands of acres of Malay Reserve Land in the city were retracted and converted to freehold status,” she said, claiming that the plots of Malay Reserve Land were shifted to those in the rural areas such as Panchang Bedena, Sabak Bernam and Hulu Selangor.

She then highlighted the PR administration’s success in collecting a RM390-million debt from Talam Corporation and returning it to the poor community in Selangor, which she said was largely Malay.

“Why is Mahathir quiet when we revealed Talam owed RM392 million to the people of Selangor for almost a decade which Umno failed to claim? Does Dr Mahathir knows that the Pakatan Rakyat government has the political strength to collect these debts?” she asked.

Faekah also disputed Dr Mahathir’s remarks on religion, saying that the PR administration in Selangor did not interfere in Islamic affairs but left these in the hands of the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).

She also listed Selangor’s efforts to look after the interests of the Muslims, saying that JAIS receives funds of over RM130 million annually ― the highest allocation in the budget of the country’s wealthiest state.

She also said the Selangor government had from 2008 to 2012 spent over RM405 million to build mosques and religious schools and RM46 million to restore the same, before pointing out that the allowance of Fardhu Ain Class (KAFA) school teachers were revised from RM400 during Dr Mahathir’s rule to RM1,300.

Faekah then claimed that there were frequent threats to do away with religious schools during Dr Mahathir’s rule, saying that the former Umno president had made many offensive statements, including purportedly saying that Malays are weak in their studies because they are tired after going for religious classes in the afternoon.

The Malay community ― the largest group of voters in both Selangor and Malaysia ― is also Muslim by law, and both BN’s Umno and PR’s PAS have sought to woo them ahead of Election 2013.

Last Sunday, Dr Mahathir said Selangor needed to be saved from PR, saying that the Malays and Bumiputeras in the state had fared better when BN had been in power.

“If the opposition wins and administers Selangor, the position of the Malays and Bumiputeras will be shunted aside. Because of this, we must act quickly to convince the people of Selangor to topple the opposition government and replace it with BN which is led by Umno.

“Our sacrifices will be in vain if Selangor cannot be saved,” Dr Mahathir said at the closing of the convoy ‘Save Selangor’ organised by Selangor Perkasa.

Dr Mahathir also said the weakness of the two Malay parties in the opposition resulted in disrespect for the race and risked the special privileges of the Malays and Bumiputera being done away with.

“We also want to stress that Bahasa Melayu and Islam are the official language and religion of our nation. So they must respect our rights as how we respect their rights.

“But, because the leadership of the Malays in the opposition pact is very weak, they often just follow their colleagues including when pressed for the word Allah to be used (in the Bible).

“When they proposed to strip the special privileges of the Malays, the opposition, which purportedly had two parties with Malay leadership, willingly complied. If we are not careful, we will lose altogether our rights on our own soil and they (opposition) will get rid of all efforts to develop the Malays and Bumiputeras,” he had said.