When I last visited Kajang on Monday to take part in the forum “Legacy of Tunku Abdul Rahman” together with the Parliamntary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Selangor Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and the former Bersih 2.0 Chairperson, Datuk Ambiga Sreenivan, I made a national appeal to all Malaysians to best remember the life and services of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
I called on all moderates in Malaysia, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, to unite and isolate extremists and traitors of the country who want to foment racial chaos and religious conflagration through incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension,hoping to destabilise the country by fomenting racial chaos and religious conflagration.
For the past nine months since the 13th general elections in May last year, the country has been afflicted by a quintuplet of national crisis the magnitude of which had never been experienced by the country in over half a decade of nationhood – nation building and national unity; economic as reflected in the unchecked rise in prices and the increasing hardships of the low-income groups; education with the unchecked decline in educational standards; security in terms of the safety of Malaysian citizens, investors and visitors; and good governance particularly in the losing war against corruption.
Never before has the country been more polarised both racial and religious as in the past nine months – because of a combination of two factors, a rudderless and directionless administration of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and a systematic and relentless campaign by an irresponsible and reckless group who are prepared to destabilise the country by ceaseless incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create the conditions for another May 13 racial riots.
I believe that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, whether in DAP, PKR or PAS in Pakatan Rakyat, or in Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the other component parties in Barisan Nasional, do not want another May 13 riots in the country as they want, like Tunku Abdul Rahman, love, peace, harmony and prosperity to prevail in Malaysia.
But all the moderates in Malaysia, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, must act to unite and isolate extremists and traitors of the country who want to foment racial chaos and religious conflagration through the incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension – or they will lose by default and allow the irresponsible and reckless few to hijack the national agenda which can only lead to ruination and sent the country down the abyss of a failed state.
I have said that the overwhelming majority of members of political parties whether in DAP, PKR or PAS in Pakatan Rakyat, or in Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the other component parties in Barisan Nasional, do not want incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tensions to lead to another May 13, causing racial chaos and religious conflagration – as they all want are peace, harmony and prosperity for all Malaysians.
But I am not sure about the the Barisan Nasional leaders, whether Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or others, for some of them may think racial chaos and religious conflagration are the only way to consolidate and perpetuate their political control and interests, though they are a handful of people going against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans who want inter-racial and inter-religious peace and harmony.
A recent case in point is the controvery over DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok’s “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” video.
One can agree or disagree with the stinging criticisms in the political satire in the video about a whole host of problems faced by Malaysians, whether price hikes, plunging educational standards, crisis of security by ordinary Malaysians in their homes and streets, or rampant corruption in the country but nobody can charge it for being anti-Malay, anti-Islam or anti-Royalty because there was just no references in the video that could be used to ground such allegations.
Yet at least five UMNO Ministers could make such wild allegations, backed up not only by the army of UMNO cybertroopers but pro-UMNO NGOs, who even broke a slew of laws in a demonstration ten days ago offering RM1,200 to anyone who slaps Teresa Kok as well as carrying out a “chicken-slaughtering and blood-smearing” demonstration against DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders.
This is clearly part of a campaign of incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to destabilise the country with the threat of another May 13 riots.
This is why I had called on all moderates, whether in Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, who do not want to see another May 13 riots, racial chaos or religious conflagration to unite and isolate these extremist and treacherous elements out to cause trouble in Malaysia.
In the “Major Right, Major Wrong” challenge facing the country, can Liow-Wee MCA leadership be trusted to be with “moderates” in Malaysia to take a stand against extremists, or will they keep silent hoping the extremists can create a political situation they can benefit?
In this “Major Right, Major Wrong” challenge facing the country to save the country from extremists who are even prepared to create another May 13 riots to perpetuate their political interests, there can only be four options for a Malaysian to take:
Firstly, to stand and speak up, joining hands with all moderates regardless of race, religion or political affiliation, to rally behind the cause of moderation, harmony and peace in Malaysia to expose, isolate and defeat the extremist and traitorous few who do not care if their nefarious and treacherous plots will destroy Malaysia as a plural society;
Secondly, though they support the moderate cause they dare not take an open public stand, even though this will result in the cause of moderation in Malaysia to be lost by default;
Thirdly, the camp of the irresponsible and reckless group set to destabilise Malaysia though incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension through lies and falsehoods, even if this can lead to another May 13 riot, racial chaos and religious conflagration; and
Fourthly, the option of cowardice and opportunism, who secretly support the third option but dare not admit it publicly, secretly hoping that the irresponsible and reckless group of extremist and traitors can succeed in their nefarious and treacherous ends, even if it means creating another May 13 riots, so that they can find a place in the new political landscape of the country.
Let me ask Liow and Wee – In the “Major Right, Major Wrong” challenge facing the country, can the new MCA leadership be trusted to be with “moderates” in Malaysia to take a stand against extremists, or will they keep silent hoping the extremists and traitors can create a new political situation they can benefit?
(Media Conference Statement in Gelang Patah on Saturday, 15th February 2014)