By Yow Hong Chieh
December 21, 2010
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has denied questioning the citizenship of any Malaysians in his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention, as claimed by Umno politicians and its newspaper Utusan Malaysia.

Lim implied that his remarks were taken out of context, adding he had merely stressed that real Malaysians were ordinary, peace-loving people who upheld the principles of justice, truth and freedom, and placed importance on economic rights and a brighter future.

“It is clear that Utusan Malaysia and Penang Umno leaders like Dr Novandri Hasan Bari are once again… spreading lies by claiming that the Chief Minister wants to question the citizenship of Malaysians,” Lim’s office said in a short press statement.

Penang Umno leader Dr Novandri Hasan Bari today claimed the DAP secretary-general was “expanding his scope of hatred” beyond Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno to the general populace for saying Utusan Malaysia readers were not “real Malaysians”.

“Of course, we cannot avoid thinking that Guan Eng’s hates the Malays because Malays are the ones that read Utusan Malaysia!” he said today.

In his speech over the weekend, Lim had said, “Who are not the real Malaysians? I wish to start with those who only know how to hate through extremism, whether from a racial, gender or religious aspect.

“This group that only knows how to discriminate, oppress and put down others and even celebrate the bloody May 13 incident are not real Malaysians. Most of them are supporters and fans of Utusan Malaysia and BN, which exploit 3R (race, religion, raja) issues.

“These are not real Malaysians. They are pseudo-Malaysians,” the DAP secretary-general said.

However, Novandri said it was not fair for a “chauvinist” like Lim to question the citizenship of Malaysians just for buying Utusan Malaysia.

He claimed this was proof that the “arrogant” Lim was unfit to be Penang Chief Minister, and further accused the DAP man of being an ineffective state leader.

Lim’s assertion that BN and Umno had exploited 3R issues for political gain clearly showed that he did not appreciate the success and prosperity that Malaysia has achieved so far, Novandri added.

“Is Guan Eng blind to the economic and educational achievements of his own race in this country,” he said.

“If it were true Umno only looked after Malays, it would not have been possible for other races to lead the country’s economy.”

Penang Umno politicians have raised political temperature in the state which BN lost in Election 2008.

Umno president and prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday his administration is committed to develop Penang “in the national interest” despite political differences with the PR government.