The police are looking for a man who recorded and made viral a video clip claiming that there was a communist flag in the 2019 Penang Chingay Festival procession in Jalan Raja Uda in Butterworth, Penang, on Sunday. Some 50 policemen and officers were on duty during the parade, and it was impossible they could not detect a communist flag.

Yesterday, the Gamis President Saifullah Baiduri threatened that the bloody riots of May 13, 1969 may return as long as Dong Zong still exist, and there was later the completely unacceptable explanation that Gamis had used the provocative headline against Dong Zong to attract public attention to its statement.

There was also the speech by a religious preacher at a Muafakat Nasional ceramah alleging that the Pakatan Harapan government has become a communist government and that communists have entered the Malaysian Cabinet and Government which had gone viral, while earlier that there had been Whatapps messages spreading the lies that I was a communist and even related to former Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng.

These are some examples of the mountain of lies, fake news and hate speech which are easily and increasingly viralled on the social media which, if unchecked, will allow bigots and extremist to turn Malaysia into a deeply polarised nation, ultimately endangering not only democracy but the nation itself.

In a week’s time, the new year 2020 will begin. While Vision 2020 will not be achieved next year, let more and more Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region, try to be Banga Malaysians and resolve the crisis over the Jawi issue in a peaceful and consensual Malaysian manner.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, December 26, 2019)