I was yesterday reminded of the Chinese saying: 此地无银三百两（cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng), i.e .“there are no 300 pieces of silver here”, when I read a response to my statement that UMNO Ministers had been misled by Chinese BN leaders to spearhead the demonization campaign against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

The Chinese saying came from an interesting story.

There was this man named Zhang San(张三） who fancied himself to be clever, but he really was somewhat dull. He managed to collect 300 taels of silver. He didn’t want this tidy sum of money to be stolen, so he had to figure out what to do with it. After considering various plans, he decided to bury the silver in a corner of a wall behind his house. Of course, he did when it was dark so he could evade detection. After the silver was buried, Zhang San was concerned the silver would be discovered. So, he thought he arrived at what was a brilliant plan! He made a sign that said 此地无银三百两 “No 300 taels of silver buried here” at the precise location where he buried the money.

I thought of this saying when I read of the tweets by the Gerakan national youth chief Tan Keng Liang yesterday:

“DAP @limkitsiang accuse othrs misled Malay leadr on @teresakok insensitiv video.He didn’t notice d English subtitl.Malay can read English la”

“harap @limkitsiang kaji video @teresakok dgn teliti sebelum buat andaian. Ada subtitle English.Kalau masih tak nampak,pergi lawat pakar mata”.

Tan was responding to my statement/speech that UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers had been misled by Chinese Barisan Nasional leaders into spearheading the vicious demonization campaign against DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video, “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and wanting her to face the full rigours not only of the laws of the land, but also the law of the jungle as well!

I had right from the beginning smelt a rat in the campaign by UMNO leader and pro-Umno NGOs against Teresa Kok as I suspected that there were “unseen hands” manipulating UMNO Ministers, leaders and so-called Islamic NGOs, to launch a vicious demonization campaign against Teresa Kok on the ground that her video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam, for two reasons: (i) the allegations that Teresa Kok’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam were completely baseless; and (ii) why the many UMNO Ministers, leaders and “Islamic NGOs” taking umbrage at Teresa Kok’s video when they could not have understood the languages used in the dialogue, which were in Cantonese and Mandarin?

For instance, UMNO National Vice Chairman and Urban and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who was the first to launch off the campaign of demonization against Teresa Kok, accused the video of ridiculing the Malaysian security forces and the Lahat Datu incursion tragedy, when there was no reference whatsoever to both items in the video.

Where did Shafie get the misinformation, as he could not have understood the Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue in the video? Shafie must have been targetted by what Confucius described as xiaoren (小人, xiăorén, “small or petty person”) in contrast to 君子, jūnzǐ among the MCA and Gerakan leaders.

This is why I threw up the question – as to how the UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers as well as the pro-Umno NGOs could have taken umbrage at Teresa Kok’s video, believing it to be anti-Malay and anti-Islam, when they could not have understood the Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue used in the video?

This question is actually a trap – as I want the UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers and the pro-UMNO NGOs to come out to say that they had depended on the English sub-titles in the video, which would have exposed them as even more irresponsible and reckless, utterly depraved politically and morally, for there is nothing in the English sub-titles to justify any demonisation campaign that the video is anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

But it is the 小人 xiăorén like the Gerakan national youth chief who have jumped into the trap, acting like Zhang San in the political equivalent of the 此地无银三百两（“there are no 300 pieces of silver here”!

Why not let UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers defend themselves, that they were not bamboozled by MCA and Gerakan national leaders who bluffed them into believing that Teresa Kok’s video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam because they had read and depended on the English sub-titles – except that there is nothing in the English sub-titles to substantiate their allegations!

But the Gerakan national youth chief, clearly bearing a “guilty conscience”, had to jump out and shout “there are no 300 pieces of silver here” to try to absolve the xiaoren among the MCA and Gerakan national leaders who had hoodwinked UMNO National Vice President and Ministers into believing that Teresa Kok’s video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam through an avalanche of MCA and Gerakan lies and falsehoods.

Let me declare with all the force in my command – UMNO Vice Presidents and Ministers will be even more irresponsible and reckless if their attack on Teresa Kok’s video as anti-Malay and anti-Islam is based on the video sub-titles which provide no cause whatsoever for such a rampage – and not just being bamboozled and hoodwinked by the xiăorén among the MCA and Gerakan national leaders who lied to them that Teresa’s video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Let me ask the UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers starting with Apdal and another UMNO National Vice Chairman and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who have criticised Teresa Kok’s video for being anti-Malay and anti-Islam to come out to declare individually, whether they were bamboozled by the xiăorén among the MCA and Gerakan national leaders who lied to them that Teresa Kok’s video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam or whether they had depended solely on the English sub-titles in the video.

If the latter, I challenge them to produce the parts of the English sub-titles which justify their attack on the video as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

If required by the UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers, I am prepared to immediately email to them the full English sub-titles used in the “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014) to refresh their memory!

The silence of UMNO National Vice Presidents and Ministers and the pro-Umno NGOs to this open question and challenge will speak volumes!

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, February 12, 2014)