The Malaysian Insight

AFTER about two-and-a-half hours, the Gerakan Pembela Ummah (Ummah) rally in Kuala Lumpur, which is aimed at defending Malay rights and the monarchy, has turned into a sea of plastic raincoats as a downpour cut short speeches and sent protesters scurrying for cover.

Loyalty to the Malay rulers is a strong theme in a rally by a coalition of Muslim groups that has kicked off in the capital in the afternoon.

Organised by pro-Islam umbrella coalition Ummah, the rally is being held to protest the Rome Statute and other current issues that Muslim civil society groups claim to have threatened Islam and the royalty.

The rally is being held despite Putrajaya’s withdrawal of its accession to the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, and after its earlier backtrack on plans to ratify the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The rally’s “uniform” is a white t-shirt depicting the country’s nine Malay rulers with the words “Daulat Tuanku” that sells for RM15 each. – May 4, 2019.