2015 Malay Dignity rally
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The Malay Dignity rally (
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
: ''Himpunan Maruah Melayu'') was a rally that took place on 16 September 2015 in
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...
, Malaysia. The rally was organised by National Silat Federation (Malay: Persatuan Silat Kebangsaan, PESAKA), a silat Melayu federation of
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. The rally aimed to counter the
Bersih 4 rally The Bersih 4 rally was a series of planned rallies carried out on 29 to 30 August 2015 in major cities in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. There were subsequent rallies in over 70 cities around the world in support of t ...
and to show support for the incumbent
Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fede ...
,
Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...
and his government. 16 September is the day of Malaysia's establishment. The rally organiser, also an
UMNO The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
Supreme Council member,
Annuar Musa Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Annuar bin Musa ( Jawi: أنور بن موسى; born 18 May 1956) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Communications and Multimedia in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former ...
admitted that the rally was racist in nature and participants were paid to take part in the rally. Medias reported that some of the participants who were ferried into Kuala Lumpur by buses from various parts of the country revealed they were clueless about the purpose of the rally, saying they were given the red T-shirts, while an independent polling centre found that only 24% of Malays supported the rally, and 53% opposed it.


Background

In 2015, two years after
general elections in Malaysia A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
was faced with multiple issues and controversies which threatened the premiership of Najib Razak.
Ringgit Malaysia The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 ''sen'' (formerly ''cents''). The ringgit is issued ...
, the nation's currency, fell to a 17-year low due to falling oil prices. There was a corruption scandal involving a government super fund called
1Malaysia Development Berhad 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB; ) is an insolvent Malaysian strategic development company, wholly owned by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated). 1MDB was established to drive strategic initiatives for long-term economic development ...
and a series of exposes by online investigative blogs, namely Sarawak Report and major news portal ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', claiming that money was being siphoned off from the fund into personal accounts of Najib and his close relations. Suspicion was heightened by the removal of Abdul Gani Patail, the Attorney General of Malaysia who was part of the task force investigating the 1MDB scandal, and reshuffling of second Najib cabinet which involved the dropping of his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and four other ministers. The Public Accounts Committee investigating the 1MDB scandal was also suspended indefinitely with the promotion of four of its members to Deputy Ministers by Najib. The subsequent events led Bersih, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes electoral reform, to hold a "Bersih rally" in August 2015, called
Bersih 4 The Bersih 4 rally was a series of planned rallies carried out on 29 to 30 August 2015 in major cities in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. There were subsequent rallies in over 70 cities around the world in support of th ...
. Frustrated with these rallies which it regarded as undermining the capability of Najib Razak to lead the nation, the President of PESAKA, Tan Sri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam organised the United People's rally.


Himpunan Maruah Melayu

Himpunan Maruah Melayu (more popularly known as the 'Red Shirts') was a rally aiming to defend the special rights of the Malays. It was led by the president of Malay NGOs' coalition, Dato Jamal Yunos. Its members represented 250 Malay NGOs. It proposed to assemble at five locations (initially seven, which included the Chinese-majority
Low Yat Plaza Plaza Low Yat is a shopping centre specializing in electronics and IT products in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 2009, Plaza Low Yat was named “Malaysia’s Largest IT Lifestyle Centre” by the Malaysian Book of Records. Plaza Low Yat falls under ...
) before joining the United People's Rally at Padang Merbok. The organisers of the United People's Rally, however, did not recognise nor acknowledge the presence of Himpunan Maruah Melayu.


Objective

Malay Dignity rally has outlined eight main objectives: # To act as a strong deterrent to those who insult Malay leaders, and to safeguard the status of Islam in the Federal Constitution; # To rally Malays in a show of solidarity, in view of core tenets enshrined in the Constitution including social justice; # To demand that the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
take stern action against those who betray the nation by perpetrating lies and putting the credibility of the Government into question, in an attempt to bring down a democratically elected administration; # To demand that the Government implement a singular and unified national school system with no compromise, as a means of showing Malay dominance; # To demand that the Government implement policies that are guaranteed in the Constitution, specifically related to special Malays' rights and Bumiputera privileges; # To call on the Government to reinstate the
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: *Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) *McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, renamed ...
(ISA) as part of efforts to ensure the safety and security of the nation; # To instill patriotism and love for country in the rakyat, in line with strengthening national unity; # To ensure that gatherings like
Bersih 4 rally The Bersih 4 rally was a series of planned rallies carried out on 29 to 30 August 2015 in major cities in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. There were subsequent rallies in over 70 cities around the world in support of t ...
will not re-occur in the future.


Rally plans and pre-rally incidents

Participants were to convene at 11am Wednesday at
Bukit Bintang Bukit Bintang (; stylised as Bintang Walk or Starhill, the latter being a translation of the Malay language, Malay name) is the shopping and entertainment district of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It encompasses Jalan Bukit Bintang (''Bukit Bintang ...
and march to Padang Merbok at 3pm. There were three rally check points:
Masjid Negara The National Mosque of Malaysia ( ms, Masjid Negara Malaysia) is a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It has a capacity for 15,000 people and is situated among of gardens. Its key features are a minaret and a 16-pointed star concrete main ...
, Masjid Al Bukhary on
Jalan Hang Tuah Like all other historical urban centres, the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, contains a number of current and old roads and streets across the city. This article contains an alphabetical list of notable roads within ...
, and Kompleks Kraf on Jalan Conlay. On Monday, 14 Sep, KL Mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz confirmed that KL City Hall had approved the permit application submitted by PESAKA on 8 Sep to use Padang Merbok as the rally venue. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri
Khalid Abu Bakar Khalid bin Abu Bakar (born 5 September 1957) is a retired Malaysian police officer who served as the 10th Inspector-General of Police of Malaysia (IGP), succeeding Ismail Omar. He retired as IGP on 4 September 2017 and was succeeded by Moham ...
also declared the gathering as legal under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012. He said the police would deploy enough manpower to help secure the safety and security of everyone in Kuala Lumpur. In the run-up to the “red shirt” rally, Kota Bharu
UMNO The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
division chief Mohd Fatmi Che Salleh made a speech and led a group of UMNO members as they burned effigies of
DAP DAP or Dap may refer to: Science * DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death * Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound * Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine * Diamin ...
parliamentary leader
Lim Kit Siang Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...
and of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. It was earlier reported that 773 hawkers and 500 shop owners in Petaling Street had decided to suspend operations on 16 Sep as a precaution, to avoid anything untoward. while Otai Reformasi have pledged to send 500 members to monitor the rally. 10,000 masks were distributed for rally goers due to worsening haze conditions. 3,000 PESAKA members and 20,000 members of Armed Forces Veterans Associations were deployed to ensure safety at Padang Merbok.


Rally incidents

Incidents of violence were seen involving protesters and police personnel, after the rally participants tried to force their way into Petaling Street or Chinatown. A couple of red shirted protestors and police personnel were injured after the protestors refused to disperse and tried to break through the police barricades. The police
Federal Reserve Unit The Federal Reserve Unit ( ms, Pasukan Simpanan Persekutuan; PSP), or better known by the abbreviation as FRU, is a riot control force and a paramilitary special response team that can be deployed at any time to engage in any emergency or publ ...
began using water cannons to disperse the protesters, after the red shirts began throwing rocks and water bottles at them.


Aftermath

Abdul Rahman Dahlan declared the rally as a success. Jamal Md Yunos alleged that provocation from
DAP DAP or Dap may refer to: Science * DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death * Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound * Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine * Diamin ...
and pro-opposition members caused the incidents in Petaling Street. Political parties from both sides of the political spectrum such as Democratic Action Party,
Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...
and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia filed police reports regarding racial statements by the organisers. Prime Minister Najib called for an investigation regarding the clashes between the police and protesters.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malay dignity rally, 2015 Protests in Malaysia Protest marches 2015 in Malaysia 2015 protests