Thirteen ethnic Chinese students from Penggerak Mahasiswa, aligned to the pro-establishment faction, have been urged to quit the group because one of the group members was allegedly a member of Malay rights pressure group Perkasa.
“If Penggerak Mahasiswa’s Chinese candidates do not leave the group in 24 hours (starting at 4pm today), it is tantamount to a silent admission that they accept Perkasa as their comrade and ally,” said a Ong Seng Kuan, aligned to the Pro-Mahasiswa faction, which has been described as anti-establishment.
He urged UM's ethnic Chinese students to shun Penggerak Mahasiswa, warning that the group could “turn the student representative council into a Perkasa representative council” should they win the election.
The deadline was set during a press conference at the Universiti Malaya's art faculty.
Ong said the alleged information about the alleged Perkasa member, named withheld pending comments, was researched through the latter's Facebook page.
He added that Perkasa had a history of acting to the detriment of racial harmony such as distributing "white ang pow", a practice reserved for funerals, during a Chinese New Year function and using violence.
“If Penggerak Mahasiswa’s Chinese candidates do not leave the group in 24 hours (starting at 4pm today), it is tantamount to a silent admission that they accept Perkasa as their comrade and ally,” said a Ong Seng Kuan, aligned to the Pro-Mahasiswa faction, which has been described as anti-establishment.
He urged UM's ethnic Chinese students to shun Penggerak Mahasiswa, warning that the group could “turn the student representative council into a Perkasa representative council” should they win the election.
The deadline was set during a press conference at the Universiti Malaya's art faculty.
Ong said the alleged information about the alleged Perkasa member, named withheld pending comments, was researched through the latter's Facebook page.
He added that Perkasa had a history of acting to the detriment of racial harmony such as distributing "white ang pow", a practice reserved for funerals, during a Chinese New Year function and using violence.
Student, or Perkasa council?
The Malay rights pressure group had previously admitted that the ‘white ang pow incident’ during this year’s Chinese New Year’s celebration was a mistake but stopped short of apologising, while also denying that they are a racist NGO.
“Today one of them has become a Penggerak Mahasiswa candidate, and its Malaysian Chinese candidates had pledged on Facebook to uphold the rights and welfare of the community.
“However they had quietly allied themselves with a Perkasa member thinking that no one would notice and cheat Universiti Malaya’s Chinese students,” he said.
Ong also clarified that the Pro-Mahasiswa faction respects freedom of association and did not question the alleged Perkasa member's move to contest in the election.
“However what we do question is that Penggerak Mahasiswa won’t stop instilling new students with the idea that university students should not be involved in politics outside the campus during orientation sessions.
"But why are they now contradicting themselves during the campus elections?” he said.
“Today one of them has become a Penggerak Mahasiswa candidate, and its Malaysian Chinese candidates had pledged on Facebook to uphold the rights and welfare of the community.
“However they had quietly allied themselves with a Perkasa member thinking that no one would notice and cheat Universiti Malaya’s Chinese students,” he said.
Ong also clarified that the Pro-Mahasiswa faction respects freedom of association and did not question the alleged Perkasa member's move to contest in the election.
“However what we do question is that Penggerak Mahasiswa won’t stop instilling new students with the idea that university students should not be involved in politics outside the campus during orientation sessions.
"But why are they now contradicting themselves during the campus elections?” he said.
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