THE last-minute venue cancellation prompted mostly by fears of venue owners running afoul of the law or getting into the bad books of the power that be will not deter organiser/s of today’s aborted Malay Proclamation gathering from mooting its replacement in the near future.
In fact, the event’s secretariat chair Datuk Marzuki Yahya reportedly claimed that the gathering would have only attracted a mere 300 people if it was allowed to go on instead of an exodus which could easily get out of control or incite racial tension.
He further noted that the event had the support of UMNO as the moderator Tan Sri Dr Ibrahim Shah Abu Shah is a party member. A check on Wikipedia shows that he was also a former chairman of the Universiti Teknologi MARA’s board of directors who was appointed on Jan 18, 2021 with his services terminated on Feb 10 this year.
Above all else, Marzuki struck the chord by claiming that the event organisers will not surrender to those who are forcing its cancellation and will be on the look-out for alternative avenues to hold its maiden event during the fasting month.
“Despite four venues having called off their bookings at the last minute – one after another – the organisers are determined to hold it in the future,” The Star cited him as saying after a media conference by secretariat advisor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (PUTRA) headquarters today.
“We will inform you of the date when it is held. The Malay Proclamation gathering was meant to gather Malays across political parties and professions who are non-partisan and have views on the state of Malays in the country.”
At the ensuing media conference, former two-time premier Dr Mahathir has slammed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, accusing it of being a dictatorship and oppressive after an event in which he was to be the keynote speaker was cancelled three times.
This comes about as the Malay Proclamation gathering was forced to be cancelled after three of its venues cancelled the booking of the halls.
Recall that on Friday (March 17), Anwar had instructed security forces to be on alert against any racial provocation although he did not directly refer his action to the proposed gathering where Dr Mahathir, among others, was expected to decry the fate of Malays being powerless in their motherland. – March 19, 2023
