Why does the Minister hide behind innuendos and make insinuating comments to rouse the passions of the Malays, wonders P Ramakrishnan.
When Umno politicians speak, they resort to the same farce without any logic to support their outrageous claims.
Their only weapon that they wield to attack their opponents who are mostly non-Malays is based on race and religion. These are emotive issues that they exploit to the full to work up the Malays just to get their votes.
It is therefore not surprising that Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek had nothing new to say in spite of his close relationship with Tengku Razaleigh in the days of Semangat 46.
He was quoted in Umno Online as saying that “a particular state” was hiding behind the policy of meritocracy in order to subtly discriminate against Malays. “They don’t say it outright – that this place is only for our race, and the Malays cannot come here. But they use certain approaches where, eventually, only one race will enjoy (the development) and this is a form of subtle racism.”
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If he has got the facts correct and if he has the honesty and courage to be specific, why doesn’t he name the state? When was it stated “that this place is only for our race, and the Malays cannot come here”? Who said this?
These facts should be made known and if they can be proven, then this “certain state” should be taken to task and whoever uttered these outlandish comments should be condemned.
Why does Shabery hide behind these innuendos and make insinuating comments to rouse the passions of the Malays? Thinking Malaysians may perceive him as having acted cowardly and dishonestly and lying about things that never happened. If he has any integrity, he should name the state and expose whomever was responsible for preventing the Malays from coming to this “certain state”.
Of course, he knows that if he were to be specific in his allegations and accusations he would land himself in hot water. That was the reason he was deliberately being vague in his unsubstantiated claims.
It is a disgrace that in spite of his impressive academic credentials – economics at University of Malaya, bachelor’s degree from the University of Leeds, postgraduate diploma in International Relations from the Uppsala University in Sweden – he is incapable of rational and sensible thinking. It is rather unfortunate that he has chosen to wallow in political squalor and denigrate himself. He has acted as a petty politician fishing for votes.
Shabery must name the state concerned and expose the person or persons involved in this racist ploy to keep the Malays away. If he is unable to do this, then it may be perceived that he is a coward and a racist who is not capable of being honest.
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