1 Malaysia is hypocritical, why should we support it?

The Selangor Menteri Besar's office has clarified that the state had made a “political decision” barring 1Malaysia logos and slogans in government or private premises.

The menteri besar's political secretary, Faekah Hussin, said that the Pakatan Rakyat administration will not recognise 1Malaysia, that she contends is designed to mislead the public.

“The 1Malaysia slogan is a BN political slogan which I believe all right-minded politicians agree should not be supported by any government body in Pakatan states.

“This is not just a political decision but it is also a decision which needs to be seen in the context of the political situation between the federal government and Selangor,” she said.

Faekah explained that the federal government has been heavily criticising Selangor's Program Merakyatkan Ekonomi (Peoples' Economy Programme), conduct that she called unprofessional.

“This is not an attempt to seek revenge. But the question is, should the state government help to promote a hypocritical slogan by BN?” she asked.

Faekah was responding to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's claim that the state government was banning the display of 1Malaysia logos because they were “afraid”.

1Malaysia's proponents dividing Malaysia

He claimed that the 1Malaysia campaign, aimed at fostering national unity, was gaining popularity and posing a threat to Pakatan.

Responding to this, Faekah said that Pakatan was not threatened by 1Malaysia, that she described as an idea borrowed from similar sounding campaigns in Israel, Singapore and Indonesia.

Further, Faekah argued that 1Malaysia rings hollow because its proponent BN is essentially a race-based organisation that is responsible for the fragile race relations today.

“BN component parties are based on narrow racial ideologies. The Umno and BN administration is responsible for racial tensions in Malaysia although independence was declared 53 years ago.

“Moreover, two of Umno's top leaders are at odds over their approach (towards 1Malaysia). Najib introduced 1Malaysia while his deputy (Muhyiddin), without any hesitation, expounds 'Malay first',” she added.

But Kit Siang advises to lift ban

In a related development, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has urged the Selangor government to lift the ban to disprove Muhyiddin's claims.

Lim however admitted that Muhyiddin himself was not committed to 1Malaysia's goals and had declared in March that he was “Malay first and Malaysian second”.

Since then, Lim argued, there has been more cases of racial and religious tensions that have gone unresolved by the federal government, including cases involving Muhyiddin's education ministry.

“For instance school principals castigating non-Malay students as 'pendatang (immigrants)', telling them to go back to China or India, and derogatory references to the religious practices of non-Muslim students.

“The 1Malaysia slogan is in fact the best example of the wide and increasing gulf between the words and deeds of the Najib administration,” said Lim.

With this backdrop, Lim argued that it was “ridiculous” for Muhyiddin to suggest that Pakatan would be scared of 1Malaysia.The Selangor Menteri Besar's office has clarified that the state had made a “political decision” barring 1Malaysia logos and slogans in government or private premises.

Malaysiakini