Tengku Faris' recent pronouncement that non-Malays should never seek equality in return for citizenship smacks of arrogance and naivety of the Kelantanese Sultanate. Holding the non-Malays to ransom with regards to citizenship highlights his regressive nature and only aims to cement his future position at the helm of Kelantan and of one day, Malaysia.

Malaysia attributes its current position to all hardworking Malaysians regardless of race or religion. Ignoring this fact and derecognising the role of non-Malays in building Malaysia is tantamount to treason. The races of Malaysia is so amalgamated that the absence of one will surely weaken this mould. Therefore, threatening the non-Malays with the issue of citizenship serves to be self destructive.

Our Kelantan Crown Prince has also resurrected the issue of whether Malaysia is a secular or an Islamic country boldly declaring that Malaysia is an Islamic nation. Surely he was only playing to the sentiments of the crowd which where entirely Muslims. Being an Islamic state means that the civil courts are no longer in authority and only the Syariah Courts are recognised. This of course is not true. Such arguments are not new. An article by Dr Chandra Muzzafar highlights this problem and its arguments. Read it here.

These belligerent utterances only serves to sow uneasiness among the non-Malays driving precious human resource out of the country.

Reproduced from Malaysiakini.com

Tengku Faris: Non-Malays should not seek equality Andrew Ong | Apr 12, 08 2:10pm Kelantan Crown Prince Tengku Faris Petra said today that Malays had given into granting non-Malays citizenship and the latter should therefore not seek equality or special treatment. He said this during his keynote speech at a forum titled “Malay unity is the core of national unity” organised by the newly formed Barisan Bertindak Perpaduan Melayu in Kuala Lumpur today. Speaking to a crowd of about 1,000 people, Tengku Faris said the Malay rulers would be an umbrella to foster unity among all Malaysians, based on the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara. bbpm tengku faris 120408 tengku faris“Therefore, the rakyat must unite and never raise issues regarding Malay rights and special privileges because it is a quid pro quo in gratitude for the giving in of citizenship (beri-paksa kerakyatan) to 2.7 million non-Malays into the Tanah Melayu federation. “Thus, it is not appropriate for these other ethnic groups to have citizenship, only (later) to seek equality and privileges,” said Tengku Faris, who read from a 11-page prepared text. However, the crown prince stressed that in an effort to unite the Malays, non-Malays also have rights that must be protected, such as in areas of religion. As an example, Tengku Faris said non-Malays are allowed to practice their respective religions in peace. They must however do so in accordance with the law and “not be provocative towards Islam”. “The Malay rulers are the head of the Islamic religion and Malaysia is a Islamic country (negara Islam), not secular. We have our own formula (as a country) which is different from others,” he added, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd. ‘Dominance’ He added that the effort to instil Malay unity and defend Malay special rights does not mean that other races would be ignored. “In fact, if Malay rights and special privileges are taken care of and is not disturbed, it would ensure national harmony. It does not just benefit the Malays but all ethnic groups,” he said. bbpm tengku faris 120408 crowdIn his speech, Tengku Faris said the 12th General Election results have shown that the Malays are being “challenged” and thus Malays unity is of the outmost priority. “The election results have shown that the Malays are disunited and facing other ethnic groups who are more dominant politically and economically,” he said. As the constitution provides that the Malays are the natives (penduduk asal) of Malaysia, Tengku Faris said every Malay must defend the constitution and Islam and this can only be achieved through Malay unity. “We have to make an effort to unite. Don’t spilt up. Avoid polemics that can distance us. Ideology (and) having different interpretations does not contribute to Malay unity. “Discussing about polemics such as Islamic state, secular state, welfare state... confuses the people... Resulting from this confusion, Malays are becoming more disillusioned,” he added.