A day after raising the heckles of Chinese Malaysians, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has put his foot in his mouth again. This time - by offending the Indians in the country. “If they have any dissatisfaction, they should be meeting the prime minister personally. In BN, we work in the spirit of BN. MIC must uphold the principles of the PM having his prerogative. In any event, the cabinet has been named and formed. We should just accept it,” Muhyiddin told reporters.
While the 62-year old Muhyiddin might have felt it was necessary to publicly tick off the weakened MIC, which has only three parliamentary seats due to a huge voter revolt in the 2008 election, his lack of statesmanship and finesse sparked immediate uproar and condemnation from both the Chinese and Indian communities.
“It is most shocking that 52 years after national independence, the No. 2 in the federal government of a multi-racial nation could come out with such retrogressive and most unacceptable views about Malaysian democracy and nation building,” said DAP leader Lim Kit Siang.
On Sunday, Muhyiddin had in an interview with a Malay daily accused the Chinese of being deceitful and ungrateful to the BN, absorbing all the election goodies dished out, but not returning in kind at the ballot boxes, where they still voted for the Pakatan Rakyat. “The Chinese even though are a minority group feel that they have the deciding power because the Malays are split into three groups. In such a situation, they can decide the outcome of an election and this can be seen from the general election and the by-elections. “They think they have the power to decide. It is not only the Chinese but the Indian community as well,’’ said Muhyiddin, in comments that practically tagged both ethnic groups as upstarts.
However, Chinese leaders pointed the finger back at Umno. The whole loss of confidence arose from the Malay-based Umno’s insistence of playing the racial card and making political decisions based on ethnic lines, rather than developing an integrated nation of Malaysians without hegemony. Said Kit Siang: “Voters are only getting what belongs to them as their right as Malaysian citizens when BN chooses to distribute ‘instant noodle’ development projects.
“There is no question of voters having to feel ‘grateful’ to the BN as the monies do not come from the private pockets of the BN leaders but the public coffers of the government.” Chinese leaders, including those from within the BN, have told the powers that be in Umno to adopt a more inclusive stance but to little avail.
Said Chua Soil Lek, deputy MCA president: “Walking from house to house in Simpang and Kuala Sepetang, it became obvious that the Chinese voters are disillusioned with promises made by BN’s YBs, that remain unfulfilled.“At the local level, Umno leaders are still playing the racial card while the more educated Malay voters feel that there are more self-serving leaders rather than for their race.”
Kit Siang also demanded that Najib explained his recently-launched 1Malaysia vision, a platform to govern the country over the next few years. “Muhyiddin’s retrogressive interview has raised the question as to what is the real meaning of Najib’s 1Malaysia. If it rejects DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia, Gerakan’s Malaysian Malaysia, even the Bangsa Malaysia concept of Vision 2020, what does Najib’s 1Malaysia really mean?
“It is clear from Muhyiddin’s interview that he is still propounding the concept of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy), which is a camouflage for Ketuanan Umnoputra (Umno hegemony), when after 52 years since Merdeka, the time has come for Ketuanan Rakyat Malaysia (Supremacy of the Malaysian race).”
Suara Keadilan
13/04/09
While the 62-year old Muhyiddin might have felt it was necessary to publicly tick off the weakened MIC, which has only three parliamentary seats due to a huge voter revolt in the 2008 election, his lack of statesmanship and finesse sparked immediate uproar and condemnation from both the Chinese and Indian communities.
“It is most shocking that 52 years after national independence, the No. 2 in the federal government of a multi-racial nation could come out with such retrogressive and most unacceptable views about Malaysian democracy and nation building,” said DAP leader Lim Kit Siang.
On Sunday, Muhyiddin had in an interview with a Malay daily accused the Chinese of being deceitful and ungrateful to the BN, absorbing all the election goodies dished out, but not returning in kind at the ballot boxes, where they still voted for the Pakatan Rakyat. “The Chinese even though are a minority group feel that they have the deciding power because the Malays are split into three groups. In such a situation, they can decide the outcome of an election and this can be seen from the general election and the by-elections. “They think they have the power to decide. It is not only the Chinese but the Indian community as well,’’ said Muhyiddin, in comments that practically tagged both ethnic groups as upstarts.
However, Chinese leaders pointed the finger back at Umno. The whole loss of confidence arose from the Malay-based Umno’s insistence of playing the racial card and making political decisions based on ethnic lines, rather than developing an integrated nation of Malaysians without hegemony. Said Kit Siang: “Voters are only getting what belongs to them as their right as Malaysian citizens when BN chooses to distribute ‘instant noodle’ development projects.
“There is no question of voters having to feel ‘grateful’ to the BN as the monies do not come from the private pockets of the BN leaders but the public coffers of the government.” Chinese leaders, including those from within the BN, have told the powers that be in Umno to adopt a more inclusive stance but to little avail.
Said Chua Soil Lek, deputy MCA president: “Walking from house to house in Simpang and Kuala Sepetang, it became obvious that the Chinese voters are disillusioned with promises made by BN’s YBs, that remain unfulfilled.“At the local level, Umno leaders are still playing the racial card while the more educated Malay voters feel that there are more self-serving leaders rather than for their race.”
Kit Siang also demanded that Najib explained his recently-launched 1Malaysia vision, a platform to govern the country over the next few years. “Muhyiddin’s retrogressive interview has raised the question as to what is the real meaning of Najib’s 1Malaysia. If it rejects DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia, Gerakan’s Malaysian Malaysia, even the Bangsa Malaysia concept of Vision 2020, what does Najib’s 1Malaysia really mean?
“It is clear from Muhyiddin’s interview that he is still propounding the concept of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy), which is a camouflage for Ketuanan Umnoputra (Umno hegemony), when after 52 years since Merdeka, the time has come for Ketuanan Rakyat Malaysia (Supremacy of the Malaysian race).”
Suara Keadilan
13/04/09
1 comment:
Incompetent dpm!god knows what all he is going create?
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