Comments by Baru Bian
The Prime Minister’s statement that BN is against racial
extremism and practices moderation at the recent MCA assembly reflects his
total lack of honesty and integrity. It is incredible that he can actually
utter such untruths with a straight face.
First of all, with regard to the rallies, the Bersih
rally had nothing to do with racism, unlike the Red Shirt rally, so for him to
condemn Bersih in the same sentence as the Red Shirt rally is insulting to
those who turned up to support Bersih’s demands, which are: free and fair
elections, a transparent government, the right to demonstrate, strengthening
the parliamentary democratic system and saving the national economy. There was
no element of racism in the Bersih rally, which was attended by Malaysians of every
race. On the other hand, the Red Shirt rally, which had UMNO’s tacit support,
was an ugly show of Malay supremacy by a small crowd of misguided bigots and
many paid clueless rural ‘tourists’.
Secondly, how can the PM have the gall to say UMNO is
against racial extremism when he and his ministers have proudly shown
themselves to be completely racist? Even their former hero Dr Mahathir has
admitted that UMNO is a racist party because only Malays are allowed to join.
Najib’s deputy Zahid Hamidi has been quoted as saying that Malays were paying
the price of being kind to the minority races who were growing more arrogant
and ungrateful. Najib’s cousin Hishamuddin Hussein is notorious for his
keris-wielding stunt at the UMNO general assembly threatening to draw blood in
protecting Malay rights. Najib’s former Deputy Muhyiddin is famous for his
‘Malay first, Malaysian second’ comment and his frequent warnings of non-Malays
threatening Malay rights and privileges. The list goes on.
For Sarawakian Christians, Najib has done nothing to
defend our rights to freedom of worship. On the contrary, the banning of the
use of the word ‘Allah’ and the BM Bible is a discriminatory act against a huge
portion of the population of Sarawak. How is that remaining steadfast and defending
the social contract as he claims to be doing? It truly is distasteful to hear
Najib speaking about equality for the races and moderation when his actions
speak louder than any platitudes he can utter.
The recent arrests of Najib’s critic Khairuddin Abu
Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang under SOSMA 2012 are reminiscent of the
dark draconian days of the ISA. Several UMNO leaders including Dr Mahathir have
strongly criticized these arrests as being attempts to silence government
critics. Not to be forgotten is the jailing and shoddy treatment of Anwar
Ibrahim, just to be rid of a formidable opposition leader. How are these
actions consistent with the moderation and democracy that Najib preaches in the
USA? The foreign media are now beginning to realize that the Malaysian PM is
not the model leader of the moderate and democratic Muslim nations that he had
made himself out to be. The true colours of the PM are beginning to appear and
the real purpose of SOSMA is obvious as Najib’s political tool against
political dissidents.
If Najib has any decency and dignity left, he should
first come clean about the RM2.6billion personal donation and the 1MBD fiasco
that has earned Malaysia worldwide notoriety. The removal of the previous
Attorney General and his former Deputy and the interference in the
investigations into 1MDB by Najib points to a person with secrets to hide, who
has not a care about his personal integrity.
Unfortunately, we have a Prime Minister who has lost the
respect and trust of the people of the country, and is hanging on to power by
virtue of the rent-seeking and patronage style of UMNO politics. The ‘haze’ of
racial extremism will not blow over, as long as these UMNO leaders are only
paying lip service to racial unity and moderation while fanning racial tensions
on the side to shore up their support. With the increasing dissatisfaction even
amongst UMNO members, we are certain that Najib’s days as PM are numbered.
There is now a real need to change not only the Prime Minister but also the BN
government. - Oct 12, 2015
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