- Badruddin Amiruldin
Infobox_Politician
name = "Badruddin Amiruldin"
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birth_date = 1951
birth_place =Malaysia
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constituency_MP =Jerai
term_start =24 March 2004
term_end =13 February 2008
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predecessor = none, (new constituency)
successor = Mohd Firdaus Ja'afar
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party = flagicon|Malaysia UMNO
religion =Islam
occupation = flagicon|Malaysia Member of Parliament
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footnotes =Dato' PadukaHaji Badruddin bin Amiruldin is a MalayMalaysia npolitician . He was born in 1951. He is currently the Deputy Permanent Chairman of theUnited Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest Malaypolitical party in the country and the leader of the rulingBarisan Nasional (BN) coalition. Badruddin was also, until his defeat in the March 2008 General Elections, the Member of Parliament for the constituency ofJerai ,Kedah in the lower house of Parliament, theDewan Rakyat . He is known as one of the more controversial Members of Parliament for his at times racist views, having called for those who oppose the establishment of Malaysia as atheocratic Islamic state to leave the country. Badruddin has also had several police reports filed against him for uttering racial slurs. He has also made sexist remark.Early political life
Badruddin was not a very well-known politician in the early 1990s, and was a backbencher in Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of
Yan in Kedah until his defeat in the 1999 general election toNasharudin bin Mat Isa from PAS, losing by 182 votes. While he was the MP for Yan in 1998, he referred toIndian Malaysians as "keling ", which is considered a racial slur in Malaysia, but is used occasionally without malice in some states of theMalay belt such as Kedah andKelantan . Fellow MP M. Kulasegaran of theDemocratic Action Party (DAP) told Badruddin of this, and he promptly withdrew the remark.Rise to prominence
In the 2004 general election, Badruddin ran for the new constituency of Jerai under the UMNO ticket and defeated his opponent,
Che Din bin Arshad , from PAS, with a majority of 10,405. Later that same year, he was elected as the Deputy Permanent Chairman of UMNO with 1,510 delegates voting for him.At the assembly where he was elected, Badruddin spoke out strongly in favour of "
ketuanan Melayu " (Malay supremacy) and the social contract, with emphasis on Article 153 of the Constitution: "Let no one from the other races ever question the rights of Malays on this land. Don't question the religion, because this is my right on this land.". He warned those who opposed such policies as the New Economic Policy, which award Malays and other indigenous Malaysians special privileges such as quotas for entry to thecivil service and public education, would be stirring up a "hornet 's nest". As he said this, Badruddin brandished a book on theMay 13 Incident , where racial rioting led to the deaths of at least two hundred, and caused Parliament to be suspended for two years. To emphasise his meaning, Badruddin declared, "if it were disturbed, these hornets will strike and destroy the country," receiving what one observer described as "rapturous applause" from the assembly. Badruddin also urged Malaysians not to question Malaysia's status as an Islamic state, describing such questioning as "intolerable". Malaysia had earlier been declared an Islamic state by former Prime MinisterMahathir bin Mohamad .In the 12th general election 2008, Badruddin lost to a newcomer from PAS, Mohd Firdaus Ja'afar with only 24,211 votes,compared to Mohd Firdaus' 26, 510.
Controversial remarks
In April 2005, Badruddin provoked what was described by "The Star", which is owned by the
Malaysian Chinese Association (a component party of BN), as abusive debate akin to that of "rowdies in the school yard," which was continued the day after when Parliament resumed. Badruddin had implied DAP MP forBatu Gajah ,Ipoh ,Fong Po Kuan , was an example of the aggressive character of modern Malaysian women, which led to more remaining single. Badruddin asked, "How long can the Yang Berhormat's husband stand her?" Badruddin was charged by Fong with having uttered a malicious remark towards another member of the house, and eventually apologised for his remark.In July, when the status of Malaysia as an Islamic state was being debated, Opposition Leader
Lim Kit Siang of the DAP argued Malaysia was clearly a secular state, and cited a 1988 decision by the Federal Court. Badruddin then angrily yelled, "Malaysia ini negara Islam, you tak suka, you keluar dari Malaysia!" ("Malaysia is an Islamic state, you don't like it, you get out of Malaysia!") Fong then cited Standing Order 36 and asked Badruddin to withdraw his remarks as hurtful and unbecoming of an MP. Deputy SpeakerLim Si Cheng asked the MPs in attendance to follow the Standing Order in accordance, but was ignored by the MPs who continued to argue loudly. The matter was brought to an end whenChow Kon Yeow , DAP Member forTanjong moved to refer Badruddin to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges. The motion was defeated by avoice vote .In October, Badruddin again caused a commotion in the House when he referred to Lim as "the damned, bloody stupid old man!" He followed this up by shouting in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect used frequently in Malaysia, "Ah Pek" (old man), sit down and keep quiet!" Later that month, Badruddin was condemned for again referring to Indians as "keling". Badruddin had been discussing the practice of males wearing
earring s, but when told byChong Eng of the DAP that this is tradition for the eldest son in some Hindu families, Badruddin said, "I talking about Muslims, not "keling"."This caused a commotion in the House, and Lim rebuked Badruddin for his comment. Badruddin refused to withdraw it and said, "This should not be a problem because I don't mean to insult by using such a word." He also said that phrases such as "keling" botol" and "keling" jual roti" were common in his home state, and asked, "why make a big fuss about it?" He later retracted his comment upon being ordered to do so by Deputy Speaker Datuk
Yusof Yacob . MPK.Devamany was the only MP from theMalaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a major component party in BN, to criticise Badruddin's remarks. TheMalaysian Chinese Association (MCA) also condemned Badruddin's comments on its officialwebsite . Dissatisfied with the resolution of the situation, DAP labour bureau chairmanA. Sivanesan ,Pahang DAP deputy chairmanJ. Apalasamy and president of the Federal Territory Selangor Indian Muslim FrontRamli Abdullah all individually filed police reports against Badruddin.Badruddin was not finished, and in the same month, again caused a stir in Parliament when he questioned the decision to permit Parliament staff not to wear the "
tudung " or Malay Muslimheadscarf .Nazri Aziz , Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, had been responding to a question from Fong, who upon noticing some non-Muslim staff wearing the "tudung", asked if thedress code required it. Nazri stated that it did not, but Badruddin objected and stated "It is part of our Malaysian culture and not meant to threaten their rights. It would also show respect to the House. Moreover, it would only make them look younger and sweet looking." Nazri stressed wearing the "tudung" was a matter of personal choice, and argued, "We cannot force anyone to accept it."Lim then stood to debate with Badruddin, who responded, "This is the fasting month (of
Ramadhan , when Muslims must fast during the day). I don't want to argue with people who don't understand, who don't fast."In March 2006, on the issue of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore jointly building of a new bridge to replace the existing causeway, with Kuala Lumpur insisting on a "scenic" crooked bridge while Singapore was against any unilateral move to demolish any part of the causeway, he said Singapore was "insolent and not very polite." He also stated, "Now they want to belittle us, last time they were part of Malaysia. Now they want to teach us."
In the
UMNO meeting in 2007, while the matter of theAirAsia hostess' skirt was too short being brought up, Badruddin, being the chairman of the meeting, added "Yes, once when I took AirAsia with my friend, I could see the 'tunnel' under their skirt!".Electoral Defeat in 2008
In the 12th general elections on 8 March 2008, Badruddin lost the Jerai parliamentary seat in the state of Kedah to PAS candidate, Ustaz Firdaus Jaafar who beat him with a majority of 2,299 votes.
References
* [http://www.mca.org.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/articles/commentary/2005/10/47445.html&lg=1 "Badruddin should not use term 'keling'"] . Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005.
*Beh, Lih Yi (July 11, 2005). [http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/37819 "Drama in the Dewan Rakyat"] . "Malaysiakini ".
*Beh, Lih Yi (Oct. 17, 2005). [http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/41877 "Badruddin calls Kit Siang an 'Ah Pek'"] . "Malaysiakini ".
* [http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=38090 "Choice to wear Tudung left to individual: Nazri"] . (Oct. 30, 2005). "Daily Express".
* [http://202.188.124.45/umno2004/fullnews.php?id=94569& "Don't Forget Your Roots, Malay Corporate Citizens Told"] . (Sept. 24, 2004). "BERNAMA ".
* [http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/37886 "Don’t like the term Islamic state? Take a hike, says BN MP"] . (July 13, 2005). "Malaysiakini ".
* [http://www.bernama.com.my/election2004/results/1999/kedah.htm "Election 1999 results - state Kedah"] . (1999). "BERNAMA".
* [http://www.bernama.com.my/election2004/results/2004/kedah.html "Election 2004 results - state Kedah"] . (2004). "BERNAMA".
*Fernandez, Terence (Nov. 9, 2005). [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11755 "YB, Parliament is not a 'Kedai runcit'"] . "The Sun".
*Gatsiounis, Ioannis (Oct. 2, 2004). [http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/FJ02Ae05.html "Abdullah stirs a hornets' nest"] . "Asia Times".
* [http://www.bharian.com.my/Misc/Umno55/KeputusanPemilihan "Keputusan Penuh Pemilihan"] . (2004). "Berita Harian ".
*Lim, Kit Siang (2004). [http://www.malaysia.net/dap/lks3188.htm "UMNO - don't create new 'seditious' issues"] . Retrieved Nov. 9, 2004.
*Ram, B. Suresh (April 1, 2005). [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=8233 "Cili Padi hot over sexist remark"] . "The Sun".
*Reme Ahmad (March 22, 2006). [http://www.malaysia-today.net/Blog-e/2006/03/two-mps-call-spore-insolent.htm "Two MPs call S'pore 'insolent'"] . "Straits Times".
* [http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/10/31/nation/12474529&sec=nation "Third report lodged against Badruddin"] . (Oct. 31, 2005). "The Star".
*Vasudevan, V. (Oct. 27). [http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/MM/Friday/National/20051028113531/Article/index_html "Across the Floor: Bid to discipline MP shot down"] . "Malay Mail".
*Wong, Chun Wai (April 18, 2005). [http://www.mca.org.my/story.asp?file=/articles/commentary/2005/4/40080.html&sec=Commentary "Jester performance of MPs not amusing"] . "The Star".
* [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/30/parliament/19315145&sec=parliament Badruddin says sorry to Karpal] "The Star" 30 October 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007External links
* [http://www.dapmalaysia.info/islamic/Islamic-KeluarMsia-Full.wmv Video of Badruddin's comments on an Islamic state in Parliament] .
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