Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin said today that Utusan Malaysia represents the Malays and boycotting the paper will muzzle the community’s voice.
He was responding to calls by the MCA to boycott the Umno-owned newspaper after it called for a “1 Melayu, 1 Bumi” movement.
MCA deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok warned that such a movement could lead to apartheid in Malay-majority Malaysia.
Muhyiddin, who is also Umno’s deputy president, said the government could not stop the newspaper from reporting the news.
“It is the voice and desire of the Malay community and also Malaysians in general. If we read Utusan, we can see that there are also reports on other things.
“Just like other media, there are pro and cons. We cannot stop a media from reporting what it wants to report but there is a limit,” he told a press conference.
Utusan had called on its owners Umno to spearhead a “1 Melayu, 1 Bumi” movement involving all Malay parties, claiming that the DAP was intent on toppling the country’s Malay leadership.
Muhyiddin said boycotting Utusan Malaysia could risk muzzling the voice of the Malay community.
“Even if you boycott it will not be effective at all. The more you ask people not to read, the more they want to read. Even the non-Malays have said that there are sensitive reports in the non-Malay media. If we ask why such stories are reported, they will say that they reflect the feelings of the Chinese and Indian communities,” he said.
Government leaders have sought to distance themselves from the newspaper’s call last week, claiming the exhortation made in the Umno-owned daily was the personal opinion of the newspaper’s editors.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said the Malay-language newspaper will not deter the government’s commitment to his 1 Malaysia brainchild.
Perkasa patron Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also spoke out against the Utusan idea, saying it would be “disastrous” if it came to fruition.
The elder statesman said such a movement would eventually result in a two-party system, which would be dominated by the Malays and the Chinese on opposing sides of the divide.
Despite its patron’s statement, Perkasa has said it was willing to lead such a “1 Melayu, 1 Bumi” movement.
Malaysian Insider
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