I am shocked to read today’s Sunday Star whose Sarawak edition carried the screaming front-page headline “Miri target” and report:
Miri target By Stephen then MIRI: “Outsiders” who have infiltrated the state to stir up problems among the people are now targeting Miri, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr. George Chan. He warned the people yesterday that these “outsiders” with ulterior motives were trying to destroy Sarawakian values by planting the seeds of hatred and anger among the people. The president of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) said the “outsiders” had already infiltrated the state and were trying to make inroads into Miri. “These outsiders with their street culture have come to spoil the good nature of Sarawakians,” he said. “They want to introduce their culture in Miri now. We Sarawakians are nice and peaceful people, but we are also very protective of our way of life. We will fight these ‘outsiders’ if we have to. I am warning them. Don’t make me angry.” He did not name the “outsiders” or where they were from but he was obviously referring to the recent Sibu by-election in which Pakatan Rakyat was accused of using unsavoury tactics that led to the victory of Sarawak DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng in a three-cornered fight. Calling on Miri folk to join SUPP in keeping the “outsiders” out, Dr. Chan said SUPP would do all it could to ensure that the “outsiders” do not gain a foothold here. “The people here must remain loyal to the government and trust the state’s leaders to bring great socio-economic progress,” he said at the earth-breaking ceremony for the Miri City Council’s new RM80mil building on the beachfront.
I am shocked and outraged by George Chan’s “barbarians at the gate” speech, reminding me of Gibbon’s great study, “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”. Who are these “outsiders” that George Chan was railing against? Was he referring to West and Sabahan Malaysians?
If so, isn’t he openly repudiating and denouncing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s signature policy theme of 1Malaysia, which states very clearly that its objective is to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and his or her race, religion or region second?
Najib should haul up and reprimand George Chan for his “barbarians at the gate” speech which makes a total mockery of the Prime Minister’s year-old 1Malaysia Policy, as what George Chan espoused (we ignore for the moment the gross distortions of his speech) is completely antithetical and inimical to everything that 1Malaysia could mean or represent.
I have said that the biggest enemy of Najib’s 1Malaysia comes from within his own government and party and not from outside. I had earlier referred specifically to the enemies and detractors of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept from within Umno, but George Chan has shown that these enemies of 1Malaysia are not confined to Umno but are also to be found in the other Barisan Nasional component parties.
How can Najib convince Malaysians that his administration is serious about the 1Malaysia concept and campaign when its greatest critics and detractors are to be found in Umno and Barisan Nasional, like the SUPP President?
[Speech 2 at the DAP Sibu Thanksgiving Dinner for Pakatan Rakyat Sibu by-election campaigners at Sungai Merah, Sibu on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 8pm]