'This reminds me of Hang Tuah who killed his best friend, Hang Jebat, because Jebat was a traitor to the king, despite that the king was not an enlightened ruler.'

Nazri: I will shield gov't, even from Mahathir

Ferdtan: Love him or hate him - there is only one Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz. For so many years, he has entertained us with his antics in Parliament that can make you laugh, cheer and cry at the same time. The fact that he has served as a minister for so long, under three different prime ministers, shows that he must be useful to whoever his boss.

He is the only Umno leader who dares to tell off Mahathir without mincing his words. His attack on Utusan Malaysia is spot on, as the newspaper has gone bad to rotten, with its constant harping on divisive issues such as race and religion.

We would like to ask the real 'Awang Selamat' to reveal himself and not to hide behind a pen name. Are you by chance, the infamous Chinese convert, Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah?

RD: I had in the past not much fondness for the maverick Nazri Aziz whom I have always associated with half-baked thoughts. But I salute him today for the courage to be Malaysian first and Malay second - a very rare quality among the present crop of Umno leaders.

Terus: I'm unconvinced but let's be fair and give credit where credit is due. It takes a courageous man to openly said he is ‘Malaysian first and Malay next', especially so when he is contradicting his DPM (deputy prime minister).

Syabas, Nazri. We salute you. Talking about principle, if one works for the ‘boss', one must be loyal to the ‘boss' regardless. If you disagree with the ‘boss' you tell him so, and if after that you still disagree with the ‘boss' then it is good principle that you resign and no longer acknowledge the ‘boss' as boss.

Let's pray that more cabinet and BN leaders come out and declare they are Malaysian first.

Joe Friday: You can only respect people like Nazri and KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin) for sticking to their principles and being bold enough to call spade a spade. What Nazri did by declaring his stand in an open letter to the writer of Utusan is commendable.

Perhaps the others in the cabinet should seriously show their loyalty to Najib by openly backing his agenda and condemn the extremist Perkasa including their patron, the mahaguru (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) or else tender their resignation immediately.

Kgen: The Awang Selamat pseudonym is not by a single person but by a bunch of cowardly Utusan Malaysia writers hiding their real names. Any journalist worth his salt would be proud to see his byline, so why hide behind a pseudonym? The only reason is to spew out racial bile which even their mothers would be ashamed to read.

Anon: Spoken like a true loyal subject who is willing to die for his country and master. It reminds me of Hang Tuah who killed his best friend, Hang Jebat, because Jebat was a traitor to the king, despite that the king was not an enlightened ruler.

And yes, I salute your parting shot - "Malaysian first".

Kunta Kinte: The drama between Umno and Perkasa is getting more and more interesting. Both sides are condemning each other like sworn enemies. The fact is, Umno is Perkasa and Perkasa is Umno. Period.

Tristan: I would like to take Nazri at face value and loudly commend him for declaring what the rest of the cabinet should be saying. If only Najib had demonstrated similar clarity and decisiveness, he would be in a much better place than he is in today.

But I suppose we have to be grateful for a small glimmer of hope and trust the rest of the bunch to harbour similar sentiments (except that they are not 'jantan' enough to say so openly). Let's also hope the silent ones do not (in the middle of the night) prevail upon him to recant and make a ‘I was misquoted' U-turn.

Transparency: Nazri strikes again! He looks like he's found wisdom somewhere along the way in his political career. And that is more than I can say for many politicians.

But I have a problem taking Nazri seriously. I want to take him seriously and I want to believe that he believes in what he says, but Nazri has made too many mistakes and sometimes this is just too hard to forget. So while I read the article with much interest and was impressed with Nazri's comments, the scepticism remains.

And your last comment was sweet to read, but I fear you need to try harder, Nazri.

Ghkok: It's a relief to hear Nazri say that he's Malaysian first. At the same time, it is disappointing to hear him go on and on about his "loyalty to the government" and his implied loyalty to Najib Razak. He's implying that his "I'm Malaysian first" statement is just parroting Najib's 1Malaysia slogan. Now I don't know what he means anymore.

Neither do I know what Najib means. He is waving his 1Malaysia slogan, but at the same time, doubts are raised about his 1MDB , which could potentially be another PKFZ.

Disgusted: There is a split in Umno. Part of Umno is with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Perkasa and Utusan bigots and part of them are not. Those aligned with Mahathir and gang, like Muhyiddin Yassin, are actually subverting Najib's 1Malaysia with their ‘ketuanan Melayu' and ‘I am Malay first and Malaysian second' claims.

Nazri is one of the few with guts enough to defend Najib and his 1Malaysia. Within Umno, there are Najib's bag carriers, Mahathir's bag carriers and the fence sitters. They are only concerned with themselves and protecting their own political agenda and turf.

Kudos for Nazri being outright and for making his stand. Even Najib does not have the guts like Nazri. I hope Nazri doesn't lose them as most of them in Umno do after coming under pressure.

Aku Melayu: Nazri's parting shot - "And yes, I am a Malaysian first and Malay next. Does any bigot have a problem with that?" - sounds more like an insurance for him to fall back to if (I repeat, if) Pakatan Rakyat forms the next federal government. Their doors might welcome you. Clever move Nazri. Anyway, I will always be ‘Malay first' till death.

Imran Shah: You can be proud of whatever roots you have. But when you are entrusted to be part of a government, you have to champion all your subjects fairly.

Imagine what would it appear like if in a public forum, the PM of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong said he is Chinese first and then Singaporean second; Manmohan Singh of India said he is Sikh first and then Indian; Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia said he is Javanese first and then Indonesian; the Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva said he is Chinese (which he is) first and then Thai?

Libra: Nazri, you did the right thing. I hope other Umno leaders will come out in support of you. BN will not get the people's support if their leaders are wishy washy. The country must change and adapt to global changes in order to survive. PAS is getting more support because their leaders have changed their old ways. Can Umno/BN do better than PAS/Pakatan?

Vijay: Reading these valiant words by Nazri, I was moved to tears at the heroism shown by this, yes, Malaysian hero.

I humbly make some additions to his inspiring words "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight Utusan , we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air and television, we shall defend our nation, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight in Sabah and Sarawak, we shall fight on in Kubang Pasu, we shall fight in the padi fields of Kuala Lumpur and in the streets of Ipoh, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

I know that you will be most steadfast in this your noble mission, that you shall never, in days to dawn upon us, plead that you were misquoted, that in truth Umno forsooth stands alongside Perkasa and that knave, Ibrahim the Ali.

Kind Sir, forget thee not to wield thy mighty keris and smite them as would dare look upon thee (excepting of course, the attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, the former IGP Musa Hassan, and the former MB Mohd Khir Toyo).

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