Cops quiz Chua on Ketuanan Melayu

The former health minister arrived at the Bandar Sunway police station in Petaling Jaya at 9:15 this morning. He had no lawyers with him.

"It is normal," Chua told reporters at the police station when asked to comment on the police request for him turn up to have his statement recorded.

He declined to say whether he thought this was a a result of a police report against him or whether it was a police initiative following protests by some quarters over the speech he made.

Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, meanwhile, said Chua (left) was being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948, reported Sin Chew Online.

Khalid said this followed a report lodged in Johor by a group in Batu Pahat.

In his speech delivered at the Kancil Awards Festival Speaker Series last Thursday, Chua had said the Chinese community could accept a Malay leadership but not Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy).

He described the Ketuanan Melayu concept as unacceptable because it implied a master and servant relationship.

An organisation of young Malay graduates - the Gabungan Graduan Melayu Muda - has demanded that Chua apologise to the Malays for the speech which they claimed was seditious.

They also want him to pay compensation amounting to RM2 million.

Umno Youth chief aspirant Mukhriz Mahathir (right) also lashed out at Chua for questioning the Malay supremacy concept.

"When these leaders are making this kind of statement, it shows that they know nothing of our history or maybe they are trying to act as heroes to their community," said Mukhriz.

Responding to these comments today, Chua reiterated that in raising the issue of Ketuanan Melayu, he had not sought to challenge Malay rights, the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language or the sovereignty of the Malay rulers.

"These are all protected by the federal constitution," he said.

Speech 'twisted'

At a press conference yesterday, the MCA No 2 claimed that his speech was being deliberately misinterpreted and twisted by certain quarters for their own gain.

He, however, did not publicly name these parties but said they were members of several non-governmental organisations and a political party which was having elections soon.

"I truly regret the actions of certain parties which twisted my speech resulting in the Malays being angry with me," said Chua yesterday.

"In my speech, I only emphasised on the struggles of the BN component parties in advancing the rights of all communities and not a particular race only," he said.