Advertisement

Who’s flexing muscles at Malays, asks Guan Eng

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today asked former DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim how the Chinese could have flexed their muscles at Malays during the Bersih 4 rally last weekend when the community was represented. Lim said there were about 20% Malays out of hundreds of thousands at the rally on Saturday and the number doubled to 40% on Sunday before the 34-hour rally ended. "Was he saying that the Malays at the rally also flexed their muscles against the non-Malays? He is just trying to play the race issue to distract attention from the scandals. "This is not about race. It is about the scandals," he told a press conference at Komtar today when asked to comment on Tunku Aziz's remarks in his column in the Umno-linked English daily, the New Straits Times. In the column yesterday, Tunku Aziz, who has been critical of DAP since his departure from the party several years ago, criticised the Bersih 4 organiser and his former party, which had supported the rally. "The world was no doubt enthralled by the prospect of Malaysia joining the ranks of dysfunctional states. If they were expecting an Arab Spring east of Suez, they were sorely disappointed. "That was the main purpose of Bersih wanting to gather at Dataran Merdeka, even if it meant breaking the law. In this diabolical endeavour, Bersih had the open support of opposition, especially DAP lawmakers, who, as we have often seen, are happy not only to break the law themselves but worse, in my view, to encourage and instigate ordinary men and women to do the same, as was the case with Bersih 1," he said. Tunku Aziz went on to attack the Chinese, alleging that the rally was "undeniably Chinese funded and organised" and the dates for the event had been carefully chosen to "flex their muscles and to show their complete and utter disdain for an event of great emotional and spiritual significance for millions of Malays". "That the Chinese have never identified with Merdeka through our 58 years of independence is not in dispute. That is their right, but this provocative and racially insensitive act is arrogant by any reckoning and something which I will long remember as a deliberate challenge to Malay sentiments and sensitivities. "I am not a racist: my record in fighting against any form of discrimination against non-Malays in employment and in the award of scholarships speaks for itself,” he said in the lengthy column. The Bersih 4 rally last weekend was organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0). It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, as well as major cities around the world, where Malaysians gathered to demand for reforms and the resignation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the scandals that had hit his administration. Lim said even ordinary citizens knew something was wrong in relation to accepting huge amounts of donation. "Never mind Tunku Aziz, people like (MCA president and Transport Minister Datuk Seri) Liow Tiong Lai, (MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan) are still supporting Najib when others like (former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and (former prime minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad are not." – September 1, 2015.