'Does PM have Malay spirit to grow reserve land?'
MalaysiaKini.com
Oct 26, 2014

Malay reserve lands can be increased if there is political will from those who are in power at federal and state levels, a former civil servant said today.

However, senate president Abu Zahar Ujang (below) said the question is whether those on top have enough "Malay spirit" to make this happen.

"If they want to listen to all those who are supporting this move, the question is, do they have the political will?" he asked.

"The ones who are in power as the prime minister, menteri besar, chief minister and members of the legislative are mostly Malays. Do they have their Malay spirit?" he asked.

He was speaking to about 200 people who attended a forum on Malay reserve lands in Kuala Lumpur today.

Agreeing with him was former Land and Cooperation Ministry chief secretary Nik Mohd Zain Yusof said that Article 89 of the federal constitution states that every piece of Malay reserve land taken, needs to be replaced by the federal and state governments.

"Malay reserve land can be increased, there must be political will.

"Any land that is not developed yet can be gazetted as Malay reserve land," he said at the Perkasa-organised forum.

Memo to PM

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali (below), who was also present, said that his side will hand in a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak representing some 1000 Malay NGOs, asking for Malay rights to be preserved in the reserve land issue and also to keep the Sedition Act.

"If not, we will look for a different alternative to the current government," he said.

At the same forum, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Perak lecturer Mohd Hasrol Haffiz Aliasak suggested that the government set up a statutory body to "defend" Malay reserve land.

He said the body must also urge authorities to immediately replace Malay reserve lands that are taken away.

He cited his own previous study from 2009 which stated that the approval for Malay reserve land only stood at around 12 percent from the total of 12.9 million hectares of land available in Peninsula Malaysia excluding Penang and Malacca.

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