1. Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s statement of lack of patriotism is the reason to the low number of Chinese and Indian military recruits, is racially biased, shallow and chauvinistic in nature.
2. Penang Gerakan is stunned and disappointed that a senior minister from our PM cabinet made such provocative statement when our beloved PM is promoting moderation through his 1Malaysia concept.
3. Instead of finding solution by identifying the root cause of the issue, the Defense Minister is finding an easy way out for himself in this complex problem.
4. We should be aware that this setback involves all Malaysian, not only the Chinese and the Indian.
5. Zahid Hamidi must explain what he really meant, when he mentioned lack of patriotism leads to the low number of Chinese and Indian military recruits.
6. Gerakan wants to reiterate that despite our differences, all Malaysians are equally committed and no one should ever doubt or question our patriotism towards our beloved country.
7. The lack of participation by Chinese and Indian does not mean they love the country any lesser.

by Sdra Goh Kheng Sneah
Secretary of Penang Gerakan