About Perjasa

PENANG: The proposed formation of a Penang-based non-governmental organisation Perjasa is not to mirror the Malay rights group (Perkasa), said its founder Huan Cheng Guan. “Instead, Perjasa is strictly confined to carrying out welfare and social activities for low- to middle- income segments of the non-Bumiputera community in the country.

“The communities in Malaysia are somewhat polarised due to various internal and external factors, so Perjasa’s role is to ‘break’ them out of such a situation,” he said.

Huan said Perjasa is in the midst of being registered and the Registar of Societies had discussed the name with him.

“We have two names in mind -- Pertubuhan Jalinan 1Malaysia or Pertubuhan Perjalinan Kaum Se Malaysia. It is just a coincidence that we coined the name Perjasa,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Best platform

Huan stressed that Perjasa is not a carbon copy of Perkasa although its membership would consist of non-Malays.

“We believe in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia concept. We are not a political party although those behind it are politicians.”

The idea came about after Huan, who is a Parti Cinta Malaysia vice-president, realised after an internal survey that several million eligible non-Bumiputera voters under the age of 40 were reluctant to register as they were not interested in the country’s political development.

Huan said Perjasa will be the best platform to reach out to such groups who are not interested in politics but still care about the country’s progress.

“We will pool the resources from the non-Bumiputera communities and invite prominent academicians and technocrats, including social activists, to join us,” he added.

Since he announced Perjasa's formation in the Chinese newspapers last week, Huan has more than two million youngsters keen to add him as a friend on Facebook and expressing interest in joining Perjasa.

Perjasa will also open its membership to all Chinese-based parties such as MCA, Gerakan, DAP and non-Bumiputera parties in Sabah and Sarawak.

He also expressed his gratitude to MCA vice-president Donald Lim Siang Chai for his support to the proposed NGO.