Johor Baru - More than 200 Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have agreed to form a council to further Malay interests against what they view as challenges to Kedaulatan Melayu or Malay sovereignty.
The Council for Malay Solidarity will forward its demands to the nine Sultans, who are the constitutional custodians of Malay customs, traditions and special privileges in the country, in the hope that they will be translated into policy.
The body`s secretariat is expected to be based at the Federation of Malaysian Writers Associations (Gapena), said Gapena president Tan Sri Ismail Hussein.
Speaking at the end of the Congress on Malay Solidarity, Ismail said the council was necessary as he claimed that Malay-based political parties were too busy running the country to concentrate exclusively on Malay issues.
The council`s members will be made up of Malay intellectuals and leaders of Malay NGOs.
"The congress and the council which came out of it is basically in response to ideologies such as a `Malaysian Malaysia`, multi-lingualism, multiculturalism and religious pluralism that have become more prominent since the last general election.
"We are against these as our stand is that Malaysia`s existence is founded on the principle of Kedaulatan Melayu," said Ismail at the congress` last day at the Persada Convention Centre here yesterday.
The congress` list of demands was drawn up and passed to the Sultan of Johor.
Organised under eight topics, the demands are aimed at positioning Malays at the forefront of the country`s politics and economy and to ensure the dominance of Malay culture and language.
In economics, it calls for government-linked companies to be turned into corporate Malay institutions.
In education, it calls for a quota system to be established for Malay students taking up critical courses.
Source: www.nst.com.my (5 Mei 2008)
