Hisham regrets wielding keris, he apologises to all Malaysians
By
TEH ENG HOCK
- NATION
- Saturday, 26 Apr 2008
12:00 AM MYT
Hishammuddin: I take responsibility for the keris waving
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has admitted that his raising of the
keris was among the causes of the Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in the general election.
Apologising to all Malaysians for his action, he said: “If it affected anyone, I cannot run away from the reality of it. I apologise to the non-Malays and the Malays.
“To the non-Malays because of the fear to a symbol which was not my intention. And to the Malays for not being able to uphold their symbol of heritage.”
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Describing it as a “sad lesson”, he said as a leader, he must be gracious and accept the consequences because the party came first.
The wielding of the
keris was introduced at the Umno Youth assembly in 2005 to symbolise Malay tradition. At the start of the assembly, a procession carrying the
keris would proceed to the hall to hand it to the Youth chief, who would then unsheathe and kiss it.
In the 2006 assembly, there was uneasiness among non-Malays when some speakers made racially slanted remarks about using the
keris. Things were made worse as the proceedings of the assembly were telecast live.
MCA and several other Barisan component party leaders criticised the use of the
keris in such a manner.
However, Hishammuddin had then defended his action, saying the
keris was a symbol of Malay culture.