1MALAYSIA BEST PLATFORM TO BUILD RESILIENCE, UNITE PEOPLE, SAYS FORMER IGP

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 (Bernama) -- The 1Malaysia concept is the best platform
to build the resilience of Malaysians and unite the people of various races,
former Inspector-General of Police Hanif Omar said Saturday.

"That is the only way we can be strong in accordance with the constitution,"
he said on the "History Chat" session organised by the Malaysian Historical
Society at History House (Wisma Sejarah), here.

Hanif said the people should appreciate the concept initiated by Prime
Minister Najib Tun Razak to reflect the actual situation in the
country today.

"I think the spirit behind it is OK, as long as there is a need for the
Malays to come out of backwardness. But if we are already equal, what more do we
want?" he said.

Hanif also said that former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM)
secretary-general Chin Peng was not allowed to return to Malaysia because he had
never been a citizen of the country.

"Chin Peng was not a citizen of Malaya. He was born in Dindings, Perak,
which was then a settlement ceded to the British. So, he became a British
subject.

"When Perak was no longer under the British administration, the Malays in
Dindings became subjects of the Ruler of Perak, but Chin Peng, no longer a
British subject, became stateless.

"People say we could accept Shamsiah Fakeh and other former Malay communist
leaders, so why can't we accept him (Chin Peng)? (The answer is) because he is
not a subject of the ruler," he said.

-- BERNAMA