KOTA BAHARU, July 5 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein today warned of tough action against Skudai (Johor) state assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau of the DAP if he continues to liken the Malay and Bumiputera affirmative policies to apartheid policies.
“Stop it. I will take stern action if the issue of apartheid is raised again. The statement is intended to instigate and cannot be tolerated,” he said.
Boo first made such a statement on Feb 26 this year in the Johor state assembly and then repeated it in his speech at a declamation of the Batu Pahat Chinese Association, which was reported by a Chinese newspaper on June 30.
Hishammuddin spoke to reporters after attending a briefing on security arrangements for the Manek Urai state by-election, nomination for which is tomorrow. Polling is on July 14.
He said such a statement should not have been uttered because it did not reflect the country’s achievements and harmony of the last 50 years or so after attaining independence.
He said Malaysia had become popular as a multi-racial country where the people lived in peace and worked together to develop the nation. The statement made by Boo could destroy the inter-racial unity built up over the years and undermine national harmony, he said.
“We are investigating, and the immunity (in the state assembly) should have its limits. What is the aim of democratic freedom if anyone can utter words which can destroy racial harmony and peace and lead to chaos?” he said.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said 1,588 policemen have been deployed under a first phase to ensure an incident-free nomination tomorrow.
Commenting on claims by residents of Manek Urai and Kampung Laloh that frequent electricity disruption recently was due to a temporary police command post in the constituency, Hishammuddin said this was not true as the police command post used its own generator and did not depend on power supply from Tenaga Nasional Berhad. — Bernama
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