Lim says Malaysia cannot afford all the bad publicity. — file pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — The recent caning of three Muslim women in Malaysia for illicit sex has bruised the idyllic image of a united, multi-ethnic and progressive nation in the world’s eyes, warned a senior federal lawmaker.
The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, in a Chinese New Year speech, said the caning incident was the latest in a series of bad publicity “flooding Malaysia” since Datuk Seri Najib Razak became prime minister 10 months ago, which has severely undermined the country’s image and competitiveness worldwide.
“Before I came, I Googled the two words ‘malaysia caning’ and there were 257,000 search results.
“I next added another word, to Google the three words ‘malaysia muslim caning’, and the finds multiplied by 30 times to return 6.45 million results,” the tech-savvy Ipoh-Timur MP told well-wishers at his party’s Chinese New Year do in Ipoh last night.
“Malaysia cannot continue to be in adverse international spotlight if we are to restore our international competitiveness by regaining national and international confidence in good governance; the rule of law; a democratic, progressive and model multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious modern nation to be ideal destination for FDIs, haven for tourists and hub for international students,” the veteran opposition leader stressed.
The 69-year-old father of Penang’s chief minister listed several incidents he claimed were cancelling Najib’s own efforts at cultivating his 1 Malaysia policy: the “Allah” dispute; the attacks on places of worship; the 5-0 Federal Court judgment upholding the power grab and topple of Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin as the lawful Perak mentri besar; the mysterious death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock; and a campaign painting his son, Guan Eng’s administration as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
“The vicious campaign to falsely paint the Penang chief minister and Penang Pakatan Rakyat state government as anti-Malay and anti-Islam is indeed a great test for Guan Eng and the PR Penang State Government,” Lim said.
“But what is little realised is that it is an even greater test for Najib and the Barisan Nasional — Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak component parties — whether they are serious about the 1 Malaysia slogan and concept,” he stressed, pointing to Najib’s inability to rein in the negative elements and get his own men from Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) to solidly back his 1 Malaysia policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment