Media statement by Ng Wei Aik in Georgetown on Sunday, 1^st May 2011:

UMNO Committed to the Ultra Racist Agenda of PERKASA

The DAP wishes to highlight the fact that despite Malaysia being an independent nation for 54 years, the racial climate of the country is getting worse due to state sponsored racism that is openly practiced by the ruling Barisan Nasional and mainly UMNO.

UMNO has shown their commitment to the Ultra racist agenda of PERKASA by openly supporting their new RELA wing labeled "Briged Setia Negara". This is a dangerous development as PERKASA has been known to spread their supremacists agenda through extreme means with their leader Datuk Ibrahim Ali calling for May 13 to be remembered as a special day as well as for the establishment of a May 13 museum.

This new development mirrors that of the Nazi party's SS or Protection Squadron. Comments of ethnic cleansing are prevalent by the readers of the PERKASA website. It shows that despite their claims of not being racists, they are hinting of further division and perhaps violence to attain their goals. Never in the DAP has any of our members said anything racial. Our agenda has always been to build a multi-racial and peaceful Malaysia. By building a multi-racial Malaysia, we need to have unity of the people. Barisan Nasional has given up on that in order to retain what is more important to them: POWER!

For 54 years, Barisan Nasional has had the ability to unite Malaysians as dreamt by our founding fathers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Dr. Ismail.

"Each of us must respect the rights and feelings of their citizens, practice tolerance for other religions, customs and habits, because it is only through diversity that we can be united."

- Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj (First Prime Minister of Malaysia)

"Why did we fight for Merdeka? So that the different races can be divided? That can't be the way, right? That can't be why all these great Malay and Umno leaders fought for this ... Something is wrong..."

- Tun Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman (Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia)

But UMNO has decided to destroy their dreams and fan racial division in order to keep their iron grip of power. The UMNO that exists today is just in name and is no way the same UMNO that was created in the beginning. UMNO was destroyed by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed in 1987 and UMNO Baru is the one in existence today.

Betrayal of Tunku Abdul Rahman

Members of the ruling elite in Barisan Nasional have come to see their rule as an inheritance from our founding fathers. Every time they are caught with their pants down in corruption and other mismanagement of the government, they run to the racial card and threaten the people not to question their rights as leaders.

54 years to build a united nation, Barisan Nasional was given 54 years and the way the racial card is played today is sickening. DAP and Pakatan Rakyat has not betrayed the constitution, it is rather UMNO Baru that has betrayed the constitution and their founding fathers' dream. DAP does not challenge the special rights of the Malays and Bumiputras. DAP is against the exploitation of the special benefits by the UMNOputras that benefit themselves while the other Malays and Bumiputras continue to live in poverty. UMNO calls it "perjuangan", can UMNO explain what is their "perjuangan" about when they are in the ones with power? They have ruled Malaysia since independence and yet they have betrayed their own Malays and Bumiputras by keeping the community relatively dependent on them and poor.

UMNO also has the non-Malays as scapegoats for every error or when explaining to the Malay community why their lives have not improved under UMNO/BN rule.

If Malaysia were to survive in the coming years, Malaysians must unite against racial politics once and for all. This is a call for unity. Unity over tyranny, corruption and forced division. UMNO has now shown it has no intentions of changing its corrupt and racist ways. Malaysians have to unite. Set aside all differences, only with unity can UMNO's iron grip on Malaysia be broken.

Ng wei Aik, DAP Penang State Secretary & SA for Komtar