Nazri: Malay rights not ‘zero sum game’
Nazri credited his father, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yeop, for his strong faith in multi-culturalism. — Picture by Choo Choy May
(The Malay Mail) – Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz slammed Malay rights and supremacy activists today, stressing that their struggle should not deprive other ethnic communities of their rights.
In an interview published by the weekend edition of English daily The Star, the tourism and culture minister credited his father, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yeop, for his strong faith in multi-culturalism.
”To me, it’s very simple. I am a Malay, but if I want to do something for my race, it should not be a zero sum game, whereby it is seen as being at the expense of another race,” Nazri told The Star.
”You love your race. But, at the same time, it doesn’t mean that you must hate the others.”
In an unrelated article today, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia lashed out at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall for a project to transform Jalan Alor here into a world-class “Food Paradise”, alleging that the move benefited only the Chinese community.
Instead, the newspaper said any such project must promote the Malay community first, insisting that the majority race be considered pre-eminent.
The Padang Rengas MP also hit back at his detractors, vowing to remain outspoken and vocal even if it goes against the grain of Umno’s struggle.
”My views are independent because I believe that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, so I will always tell it as it is,” said Nazri.
Nazri recently made the news after a blogger accused him of nepotism over his son, Nedim’s appointment to his ministry.
The minister defended the appointment, saying that it was merely informal appointment and Nedim was not on the government’s payroll.
Nazri said Nedim was given the title as a symbolic move to allow him some authority when helping to organise certain programmes for his father.
Explaining the misunderstanding to The Malay Mail Online last week, the senior Cabinet minister said he had at first appointed his son to aid him in his Padang Rengas constituency in Perak before and during the May 5 general election.
”My son is just a normal Umno member. He is not an active politician. It is not my son these people are really upset with. It’s me,” Nazri claimed in the interview published today.
He explained that the reason for the upset has been his unorthodox ways, and his fullest respect for freedom of expression.
The minister drew the ire of critics after he spoke out against a proposed law supported by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in July, to reverse the Cabinet’s prohibition on unilateral child conversion in 2009.
He also disputed Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron’s decision in June to open the iconic Jonker Walk to the traffic in a move critics allege was to punish Chinese voters there for failing to support Barisan Nasional in Election 2013.
The move was later aborted.
