The Malaysian Insider 29 June 2015
Malay Subang DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) leaders have denied that they joined the party to champion their own race, saying instead that they fought for all Malaysians regardless of their background.
They said they chose DAP because they were tired of race-based politics, and they believed a multiracial party was the best platform to ensure that democracy thrived in the country.
“In contrast to the allegations that we joined DAP to fight for Malay rights, we actually joined DAP because we are tired of hearing and seeing our country’s politics revolve around championing a certain race.
“We joined DAP not to alleviate our race’s leadership, but to raise the leadership of the rakyat. Not to fight for our race’s rights, but the rights of every rakyat as enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” they said in a statement.
The statement was signed by Subang Dapsy chief Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof, Subang Dapsy vice-chief Young Syefura Othman, Subang Dapsy treasurer Tarmizi Anuwar and Subang Dapsy publicity chief Numan Saadan.
They were responding to comments by deputy head (Politics, Security Cluster and International Affairs Cluster) of the National Professors Council Professor Dr Jayum Jawan that Malays were joining DAP to fight for their own race.
They said his statement was both careless and baseless, adding that Malaysia must move beyond race-based politics and instead focus on ensuring freedom, justice and equality for all, as well as helping the poor.
They said these principles existed in DAP, which was why they had joined the party.
“We want to see a healthy democracy, where the effort to create a better country is done collectively, in a multiracial organisation,” said the four.
“We agree and want to champion the idea that Malaysia belongs to all of us, and every citizen regardless of race and background should work together to make the idea a reality.”
Despite its reputation for being a Chinese-majority party, DAP has seen several Malays joining its fold in recent weeks.
Former student activist Sheikh Omar Ali left PAS to join DAP on June 20, several weeks after the Islamist party approved a motion to cut ties with DAP in its annual congress.
The former chairman of student activist group Solidarity Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM), who had been a member of PAS for six years, said DAP’s pull factor was that it was more serious about championing people-centric issues.
His entry into DAP came just a week after national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said joined the party.
Samad said he had wanted to join DAP for quite some time as it was a secular party that was able to represent all Malaysians.
He said DAP had also done well in reaching out to Malays in recent times, even though government-controlled media depicted it as chauvinistic and racist. – June 29, 2015.