KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Dr Shahruddin Salleh said he was not being racist with his statement on revoking the citizenship of those who are not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia.
Shahruddin told news portal Malaysiakini that he was merely posing a “question”, as opposed to a “suggestion”, when he made the remarks in the Johor state legislative assembly in 2014.
“There is nothing racist about it,” Shahruddin was quoted saying.
“In the state assembly, we (lawmakers) can only raise two things: a question or a suggestion. I started (the sentence) with a ‘what’. It was a question, not a suggestion.
“I asked if the government will strip anyone’s citizenship for being unable to speak Bahasa Malaysia,” the Jorak assemblyman added.
Shahruddin, who recently defected from Umno, also reportedly said he sent two of his seven children to a Chinese primary school.
“I am so ashamed because as a Malaysian I cannot speak Mandarin,” he was quoted saying.
““I can speak a little Mandarin — ‘ni hao ma’ (how are you). If you (Chinese) can speak Malay, why can’t I speak Mandarin? Seriously, I did not suggest stripping anyone of their citizenship. If I were an ultra-Malay, then I would have asked for Chinese schools to be closed down,” he added.
Skudai assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau recently expressed concern with Shahruddin’s “ultra-nationalist” mindset and called for a “clear, common and workable platform” in the Opposition.
Shahruddin was previously reported of repeatedly calling in the state assembly for the revocation of citizenship for Johoreans who failed Bahasa Malaysia examinations.
