Press Digest: Stop using 'pendatang' to describe Chinese and Indians

PETALING JAYA: 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 Datuk Raja Arif Raja Ali (BTN), 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 today.
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 regarded Malaysia as their homeland.
"Upon Mederka, 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 as a matter of fact, apart from the orang asli and other natives (from Sabah and Sarawak), other races were once pendatang.
Meanwhile, Gerakan vice-president Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said Raja Arif's remarks should be corrected, as the latter's utterances and thinking were undermining national unity.
He said Raja Arif should resign if he could not play his role of instilling patriotism among Malaysians well.
Lau said the bureau's mission is to train and imbue the correct thinking among overseas-bound students.
But if the director himself has the wrong conception, he would be showing the wrong example to our future leaders, he said.
On Saturday, Raja Arif said "pendatang" merely meant "immigrants" which would be an accurate description for a foreign or the origins of certain Malaysians.
"I think (there is) nothing wrong with that word but the way you say it could be wrong. 'Pendatang' translated to English is immigrants, is it not?" he was quoted as saying at a press conference.
"Chinese, Indians, Iban and Kadazan, they are all Malaysian citizens. Just that we study history, of course their origins cannot be denied."
On Friday, MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam in his speech at the party polls urged Barisan Nasional leaders to stop describing the country's non-Malay communities as "pendatang", and even suggested that the usage of the term be banned.