‘No need to use ‘pendatang’ term’

HUA ZONG (Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia) president Tan Sri Pheng Yin Huah said there is no need to stress who among us are “pendatang” as we are all Malaysians born and bred in Malaysia.

He did not agree with the remarks of National Civics Bureau director (BTN) Datuk Raja Arif Raja Ali, who said there was nothing wrong with the term “pendatang” to describe the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia as it is a historical fact, China Press reported yesterday.

Said Pheng: “Our ancestors migrated to this land. It is not wrong to call them ‘pendatang’. But their descendants were born and bred here and regard Malaysia as their homeland.

“Upon Merdeka, our forefathers reached an agreement for all ethnic groups on this land to live in peaceful co-existence and harmony. There is no need to use the term ‘pendatang’.”

Pheng pointed out that apart from the orang asli and other natives (from Sabah and Sarawak), other races were once pendatang too.

Meanwhile, Gerakan vice-president Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said Raja Arif’s remarks should be corrected, as his utterances and thinking were undermining national unity.

He said Raja Arif should resign if he could not play his role in instilling patriotism among Malaysians.

Lau said BTN’s mission is to train and imbue overseas-bound students with the correct thinking. But if the director himself has the wrong conception, he would be showing the wrong example to our future leaders, he said.