Getting serious on national reconciliation


Jeswan Kaur | June 30, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

Does Najib have an answer as to why a former judge and former premier can go on making not only seditious but racist remarks?

COMMENT

So much ‘pressure’ is being put by the federal government on the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact to accept the outcome of the May 5, 2013 general election if the latter is serious about ‘national reconciliation’.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has even gone on to say that Pakatan’s acceptance of the 13th general election result is the ‘main premise’ for reconciliation.

In fact the premier is trying very hard to appear sincere about reinstating the heavily compromised peace, to the point of claiming that the government was planning to set up a national consultative council on unity where issues concerning race, religion and policies can be discussed.

But for that to happen, Najib wants the opposition to accept the May 5 GE result.

In other words, the prime minister is saying he would only get serious about the topic of national unity if all quarters no longer questioned ‘how’ BN won the 13th general election.

While Najib dictates terms to Pakatan and all Malaysians who are against electoral fraud, his fellow Umno sycophants are sparing no efforts in hijacking any form of ‘ceasefire’ between ruling government Barisan Nasional and Pakatan.

One was the the former Appeals Court judge Mohd Noor Abdullah who a week after the 13th GE decided to court attention by calling for the defence of Malay rights.

“The result of the 13th general election and the Chinese tsunami shows that the Chinese have forgotten about the bond established 55 years ago. Expect a backlash from the Malays,” he had said then at forum organised by the Federation of Peninsula Malay Students and the UiTM Alumni Association.

Contrary to Najb assurance that the country’s peace and stability would be given top priority, Mohd Noor unabashedly promised that the Chinese community would be ‘punished’ for letting the BN government down in the May 5 general election.

‘Harassing’ the non-Malays

Cheating at the polls and national unity are two different issues that Najib as leader of the BN coalition needs to address; however, by placing an ultimatum on ‘national reconciliation’, the premier has proven that he is not interested in bridging the dangerously-widening gap between the Malays and the non-Malays.

It is this nonchalant attitude being displayed by Najib that has prompted the likes of Mohd Noor to take it upon themselves to ‘harass’ the non-Malays.

More recently, Mohd Noor again stepped on the toes of the non-Malay communities when he called for the integration of vernacular schools into the national school system, saying their separateness was offensive to the Federal Constitution.

Delivering a lecture organised by the Muslim Consumers Association on June 19, Mohd Noor did not think twice before proclaiming that the existing vernacular schools—officially known as “national-type schools”— be changed into schools that teach pupils to gain proficiency in their mother tongues as opposed to using them as media of instruction for other school subjects.

“We should remove the labels of SJKC and SJKT; they are divisive,” Mohd Noor had said.

Were the labels ‘SJKC’ and ‘SJKT’ offensive as Mohd Noor believes, how is it that prior to the 13th GE, millions of ringgit were donated to the vernacular schools by Najib?

Were these donations then a form of bribe to the Chinese community in exchange for their votes?

Or has Mohd Noor taken it upon himself to play the Malay hulubalang or ‘warrior’ in defending all things-Malay?

National reconciliation a ‘serious business’

Do Najib and Mohd Noor understand the gravity surrounding the subject of ‘national reconciliation’?

Had they been, the duo would have refrained from making statements no less seditious in nature.

Likewise, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad too has thrown caution to the wind each time he makes statements that are seditious.

However, at the end of the day, it is Hindraf founder, lawyer P Uthayakumar who gets sentenced to 18 months’ jail for penning a letter of a seditious nature against the government to former British prime minister Gordon Brown six years ago, and PAS vice-president Husam Musa who gets nabbed enroute to Padang Merbok for the ‘Black 505′ rally for uttering ‘seditious’ words.

Husam was detained by the police under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 in connection with a statement by him that those attending the gathering on June 22 were engaging in a jihad (holy war) and therefore can be considered martyred if they died in that cause.

Be it Uthayakumar’s jail sentencing or Husam’s arrest, these recent developments as far as DAP leader Lim Kit Siang goes, clearly reflect that nothing has changed despite Najib claiming ‘transformation’ was taking place.

Lim cannot help feel perplexed as to why justice continues to elude the opposition front.

The DAP veteran wants to know if Husam’s words were considered seditious, why were the “the series of seditious statements” by Mahathir not viewed as such?

“Malaysians are asking why the police have not even questioned, let alone remanded, former prime minister who had been guilty of making a series of seditious statements before, during and after the 13th general election, utterly reckless of the damage he was doing to inter-racial harmony with his racist lies and falsehoods,” Lim asked after Husam was arrested.

Does Najib have an answer as to why a former judge and former premier can go on making not only seditious but racist remarks, both that not only jeopardise any chance at ‘national reconciliation’ but are also detrimental to the nation’s peace, stability and security?
– See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/06/30/getting-serious-on-national-reconciliation/#sthash.Gce516Xu.dpuf

  1. #1 by boh-liao on Sunday, 30 June 2013 - 2:03 pm

    U seriously expect AhCheatKor 2 get serious on national reconciliation?
    He had appointed frauds n fraudsters with well-known dubious academic degrees as his ministers
    Got credibility meh

  2. #2 by DAP man on Sunday, 30 June 2013 - 2:26 pm

    I propose the following for the National Consultative Council:
    Advisor: Mohathir Mohamad
    Chairman: Mohd Noor Abdullah
    Vice Chairman: Ibrahim Ali
    Members: Zulkifli Nordin, Awang Selamat, Ridhuan Tee.
    Official Media: Utusan Malaysia and TV 3

  3. #3 by Bigjoe on Sunday, 30 June 2013 - 4:20 pm

    He calls for national reconcilation and then not only his choice of Melaka CM take retaliation against Jonker Walk hawkers and compounded it with bad excuses, he appointed failures to top plum job into unofficial/official members of Perkasa, THEN HIS CABINET Approves Section 107(b) of Admin of Religion of Islam (FT)..

    How to be serious when he is a laughing stock?

  4. #4 by Winston on Sunday, 30 June 2013 - 4:30 pm

    Egypt is a good case study in democracy.
    Just a year ago, its dictator President Mubarak was deposed and replaced by Morsi.
    Egyptians were quite anxious about life under the cleric.
    And they were proven right.
    Instead of giving the democracy promised, he took it upon himself to grab unquestionable power for himself.
    And his followers were hollering that they have the majority!!!!
    Does having a majority meant that the government caters only to the whims and fancies of that majority?
    What about the significant minority of their citizens?
    Should they be completely ignored?
    Shouldn’t the President realises the simple truth that he’s a president for ALL Egyptians??
    Is it that difficult to have a consultative and inclusive government?
    In fact, those who opposed his government really have valid grounds to do so!
    They don’t dump one dictator only for him to be replaced by another!!!!
    And the Egyptians are not going to let such things go unnoticed!!!

  5. #5 by Loh on Sunday, 30 June 2013 - 5:37 pm

    ///The daylight robbery took place at a bungalow home in Bukit Damansara belonging to Khairy Jamaluddin’s mother.///–Malaysiankini

    That is only perception, not a true crime.

  6. #6 by PoliticoKat on Sunday, 30 June 2013 - 10:32 pm

    National reconciliation?

    Phh… Chinese bashing is a sport in Malaysian politics. It has been going on for decades now. So why should UMNO change its spots. They always say they will have another May13, if the chinese don’t bow down and allow UMNO to do as they like. it will never change.

    Actually, I support UMNO’s actions on Chinese bashing! The more time they spent bashing the chinese, the less time they will spend actually helping the Malays people they are suppose to represent. The less time they have to look upon themselves and realise the mistakes they made.

    It is a great distraction.

    • #7 by black dog on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 3:16 pm

      Agreed. The more pressure they put on our children, the more stronger our children will be. good for them, later in life when they work within / without malaysia

  7. #8 by Noble House on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 3:27 am

    For UMNO Baru, a party trapped in tribalism and feudalism for decades, has no other means to hold itself together apart from such. It is ingrained into their social DNA to ensure survival.

    The people need to realize that we are sovereign, we pull the strings in our own destiny, for everything that makes us happy and everything that brings us sadness is a result of our own doing. That we are only in this situation because we choose to be, at any moment in time we can simply opt out and stop playing by their rules.

  8. #9 by Bunch of Suckers on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 8:19 am

    Why should the sucker cares about racist slurs and comments??? He only care about sucking more money with his buddies…

  9. #10 by Bunch of Suckers on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 8:21 am

    Election is over!!! Profound and heap of promises will be swept under carpets and hide inside closets!!! Wait for another round of suckers’ election promises, dude!!!

  10. #11 by lee tai king (previously dagen) on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 8:51 am

    The more jib goes around asking people to accept the GE13 result the more I suspect jib and umno actually have something really really terrible to worry and to fear about.

    My suspicion: Pakatan, bersih and the people’s pressure on all those GE13 frauds by jib and umno sooner or later will yeild some fantastic result. Jib and umno simply cannot afford that.

    So jib let me tell you. You can’t take our properties and our money and then tell us to accept the consequences.

    It’s not working.

    And know what?

    It wont work!

    • #12 by black dog on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 3:30 pm

      wrong lee, they can take our house and money, if they can change the law, they can manipulate the law to find ways to take our house and money. Can they change the law? yes! fortunately they are now without 2/3 so they can’t change the constitution and law as they like!
      The perfect example is Islamic law of child conversion. They change the law from parents to parent and when one parent become Islamic and he automatic convert the child. I have heard of cases where during divorce proceeding, one parent convert to Islam, and immediately convert the child. Thereafter the child deem not suitable to live with the non Islamic parent. Who change the law?

  11. #13 by tuahpekkong on Monday, 1 July 2013 - 4:16 pm

    I think these two are UMNO hawks unofficial spokesmen, that’s why they can continue to utter racist and seditious remarks with impunity. They are just trying to find ways to penalise the Chinese for voting the Opposition. Before the GE, both the PM and the DPM stated that vernacular schools were part of the national education system. How come these schools suddenly become offensive to the Federal Constitution after the GE? If the Chinese can’t vote the candidates of their own choice, why not disenfranchise them?

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