The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak showed his true colours of basically unsympathetic to democratic and human rights of Malaysians when he more than halved the 2016 budget of Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) from over RM10 million this year to RM5.5 million for 2016.
What Najib should have done is to maintain Suhakam’s RM10 million ringgit budget and abolished Biro Tata Negara (BTN) which would have saved the government some RM54 million budgetted for next year – especially as BTN has continued to be unrepentant and continued its its negative, divisive and anti-national activity of inciting racism, disunity, bigotry and intolerance instead of fostering patriotism, unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and goodwill.
Even former top Malay civil servants in G25 have condemned BTN of being “ultra Malay-racist”.
The unrepentant and recalcitrant mindset of BTN was again illustrated by the defence of the BT director Raja Arif Raja Ali of derogatory reference of the minorities in the country as “pendatang” when some of them may have been in Malaysia for several generations.
What makes Raja Arif’s defence of the derogatory reference of the term “pendatang” for Chinese and Indians is that it comes at a time when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was trying to assure the non-Malays in the country by declaring at the national assemblies of the non-Malay Barisan Nasional parties that the Chines and Indians are “sons of Malaysia” and not pendatangs.
When Najib was questioned about his sincerity giving such assurances as he had never made such a statement at UMNO General Assemblies, BTN’s Raja Arif’s defence of the label “pendatang” for Chinese and Indians cut deeper than ever and strikes home the question whether Najib’s assurance that Chines and Indians are “sons of Malaysia” and not pendatang is to be taken seriously by the Barisan Nasional parties, leaders and governent departments and officials like BTN.
Or is BTN higher in authority not only over the Cabinet Ministers but even the Prime Minister himself?
Will the Cabinet censure the BTN director Raja Arif for justifying the use of the derogatory term “pendatang” on Chinese and Indians in Malaysia?
(Speech at DAP “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang and Mani RM2.6 billion?” kopitiam ceramah at Luyang, Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 6 pm)