KUALA LUMPUR: Non-Malays will be welcomed at the upcoming Malay Unity Assembly tomorrow as the event is to celebrate Malay culture and not aimed at creating political or racial discord, its organisers said.

“If there are non-Malays who want to come also, we won’t stop them, because if they come with good intentions to be friends with this Malay movement, they are also welcome,” said Datuk Dr Hasan Mad, the secretary-general of the Malay Consultative Council (MPM).

“We are not an activity that is racist and has racial elements. We want to rally the Malays so that we become united, blessed and respected,” Hasan explained.

He said the gathering tomorrow at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil here is to promote unity, adding that there have been too many politics-based gatherings of late.

“The only assembly that we have now is the Umno assembly, that is politics, but we don’t have any non-political assembly,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi are also expected to attend the assembly, which is expected to draw at least 20,000 people.

Others in the organising group besides MPM are Universiti Teknologi Mara, Majlis Amanah Rakyat, Federal Islamic Development Department, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera, and the controversial national civic bureau, Biro Tatanegara.

The programme includes instilling “maqasid syariah” or the objectives of Islamic law, and also listening to “mandates” to Malay leaders by the national leadership.

According to a press release on the event, a similar assembly was held 69 years ago on March 2, 1946, to rally Malays to form Umno. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 27, 2015.