KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — A week after the Umno general assembly that preached inclusiveness, the party-owned Mingguan Malaysia accused DAP of being racist and called it the worst danger facing the country.DAP Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong immediately responded to the paper’s columnist Awang Selamat’s accusation, saying Umno and the Utusan Malaysia weekly edition are liars.
Utusan has been critical of DAP in the past few months, particularly the Penang government led by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, over claims that the chief minister’s name replaced the King’s name in Friday prayers, gambling funds being used as compassionate payments for the elderly and Malay reserve land being used for commercial purposes.
“The DAP strategy to get close to the Malays is because they don’t want to depend on PAS and PKR. They worry that PAS will desert the pact. PKR itself looks shaky,” said the columnist Awang Selamat, the pseudonym is usually used by the paper’s senior editors.
“Actually, DAP is the most racist party in the world. For Awang, the DAP threat is more dangerous than any threat that been faced in the country’s history. Only their colonialism is more subtle, cloaked by democratic slogans and without weapons. But the implication is great.
“The constitution, the position of Islam and the monarchy are the wagers, that could lead to Malaysia being a republic. Is that what we want?” Awang Selamat wrote.
The columnist’s rhetoric has been shared by several Ummo politicians and attributed to their anger and envy towards non-Malays, believing that non-Malays should remain submissive to the bigger Malay demographic.
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu pointed out yesterday that Umno must temper such talk as some 70 seats contested by the Malay party depend on non-Malay votes for victory.
The Conference of Rulers also issued a statement late last night expressing concern over heightened racial tension and continued questioning of the ‘social contract’. Umno has said the ‘social contract’ for Malay political supremacy in exchange for citizenship of non-Malays cannot be questioned.
In response today, Liew said it regretted the action by Utusan Malaysia and several Umno leaders that Malays will be chased from Penang.
“This lie is not just a fiction to stoke the anger of Malays but an attempt by Umno to hide its weakness to defend the Malay race,” said the party strategist.
Liew also defended the Penang state government, saying a proposed international academic institution has yet to be approved despite allegations to the contrary by Umno.
“But Utusan and Umno are continuing with their lies that Malays will be the victims if the institutions are built. Utusan and Umno use terms like ‘Chinese University’ and ‘Singapore University’ that apparently have been approved to stoke racial fires.
“This is false news. DAP fights for all races and equal educational opportunities for all races,” he added.
He said the people should not be misled by the lies perpetrated by Umno and Utusan.
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