DAP MP for Seputeh, Teresa Kok, who is currently in Sabah on a political visit together with Member of Parliament Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah), has drawn my attention to the following Daily Express report yesterday quoting the Malacca Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Ali Rustam as saying “It is easy to become a Malay”:
Easy to become a Malay, says MB Kota Kinabalu: Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Ali Rustam said a person who is a Muslim, converses in Malay and follows the Malay traditions is considered a Malay. “It is easy to become a Malay, ” he told a Press conference after Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman opened the Dunia Muslim Dunia Islam (DMDI) seminar, here, Saturday. Elaborating on why Musa had said that more than 50 per cent of the State’s nearly three million population are Malays, Mohd Ali, who is also DMDI president, said: “Even if that person is Chinese or Indian or Kadazan,if they are Muslim or have converted, converse in Malay and follow the Malay tradition, then they are Malays.” “The Kadazans if they are a Muslim, we considered them as Malays, and if they have not embraced Islam, they are Bumiputeras. It is easy to become a Malay.” Present were Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun and Sabah State Secretary Datuk KY Mustafa. Also present were Indonesian Governor of Riau Province Rusli Zainal, Governor of Riau Archipelago Province Ismeth Abdullah, Governor of Bangka Belitung Province Syamsudin B and Malacca State Secretary Datuk Wira Ismail Salleh.