Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) President, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged Malaysians to join the party.
He said this at the party’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at Bukit Merah Laketown Resort on Friday, July 6. A massive crowd of over 20,000 Malaysians of all races were present to greet the prime minister and party president.
“There are so many of you here, so many people, so many flags – but I’m sure not all of you are PPBM members,” he said.
He added that the call for support is not about competing against other Pakatan component parties, but to strengthen PPBM.
“By holding the Prime Minister’s seat, PPBM can influence the country’s administration. We can protect the people,” he said.
He assured the crowd that although PPBM is a Malay party, it would not be another UMNO, another Malay Nationalist Party.
“UMNO has forgotten their roots. The members only think about money for themselves,” he said.
“However, people can only be blinded for so long. People will soon realise that they’ve been manipulated and used as tools for other people’s personal gains,” he added.
“Many people have left the party, after their president was accused of stealing money. The turnout was great at our rallies, sometimes recording over 20,000 supporters, but due to certain ‘issues’ – we only won 13 seats.”
Dr Mahathir said that the party could have won by a larger margin during the 14th general election, had it contested with its own logo.
“Other parties got in the way and stopped us. We’re not allowed to campaign with our own logo, so we’re forced to use other logos and symbols,” he reasoned.
“We should thank Pakatan Harapan for giving a Bersatu leader the opportunity to become Prime Minister.”
Earlier that evening, Dr Mahathir witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Emkay Foundation, Pulau Banding Foundation (PBF) and Pulau Orang Utan Bukit Merah Foundation (POUBMF) with Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
The MoU is aimed at promoting academic cooperation, which includes setting up research centres in facilities owned by PBF and POUBMF.
The MoU was signed by Vice-Chancellor of UiTM, Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Said Hassan and the CEO of each foundation, Zainon of Emkay, Datuk Dr Rashid Malik of PBF and Dr S. Sabapathy of PUOBMF.
PUOBMF made history by returning two orangutans, Ah Ling and Carlos, who were borrowed from the Sarawak Forestry Department in 2000.
After the signing, Dr Mahathir said that it is important for us as humans to practise civic mindedness.
“Humans are wild, we kill animals as we please. Some species have become extinct, and others will soon be, unless we work on preserving them,” he said.
He applauded the efforts made by Emkay Foundation and MK Land Holdings Berhad.
“More people should follow in their footsteps. We must remember that businesses are people-dependent. Earn, but never forget to give back to the public.”
Loshni Nair
