Umno’s silence on attacks against Teresa Kok a way to instil fear in Malaysians, says DAP rep
Umno leaders have been silent on the attacks against Teresa Kok as the issue "plays perfectly" into their hands in creating fear among the people to strengthen their power, a DAP lawmaker claimed today.
Klang MP Charles Santiago (pic) said if the federal government wanted to remain relevant to the people, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should take a stand against political provocateurs to ensure that racial and religious tensions do not escalate further.
"It’s rather clear that Umno leaders are keeping quiet because this plays perfectly into the strategy of creating fear to embolden their power base, just like the ride on the ‘Allah’ issue," he said in a statement today.
"The government has been struggling for years now to remain relevant to the people. And it is failing miserably. If it wants a semblance of a chance again, Najib must take a stand now to prevent the religious and racial tension from escalating further.
Santiago was commenting on the attacks against Kok over her Chinese New Year video titled "Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014”, which they said had insulted Malay leadership and Islam.
"Supporters of the bully boys and Umno have indulged themselves in a very sexist smear campaign against Kok in cyberspace.
"Condemnations against her were sexually-charged and yet we have heard nothing from the ruling leaders," he added.
On Thursday, a group calling itself the "Council of Islamic NGOs" slaughtered two chickens and offered a RM1,200 reward to anyone who dared to slap Kok as a sign of anger towards opposition leaders.
They later smeared the chicken blood on a banner with photographs of Kok and other DAP leaders, which prompted Kok and her supporters to lodge a report over the concern for her safety.
However, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that there was no need to open investigations into police reports filed against the group for offering the reward as "slapping is not a threat".
Santiago also raised concerns over the group's call to Putrajaya to expel Chinese and Indians who were not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia from the country.
"Again we have a ragtag bunch of people spewing venom and inciting violence in the country. And yet again we have the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, feigning amnesia, while Umno leaders are looking the other way.
"Shouldn’t politicians be setting higher standards? Or are we content with teaching our children that it’s alright to speak gutter language to shame women, condone threats and violence and stir racial and religious sentiments for personal gain? "
The DAP politician also defended Kok's video, saying that although it was anyone's right to dislike the video and criticise the satire, it was not acceptable to take the content out of proportion and turn it into a racial issue and threaten violence.
"The video was a political satire, which mocks price hikes, corruption and other issues that Malaysians are grappling with every day.
"Why shouldn’t we be critical of the leaders? Why can’t Malaysians protest against government policies, which are detrimental to the people? And why must the inherent rights of a citizen to raise questions and demand answers be viewed as an insult?" he said.
"I would really like to know what Najib has to say about this." – February 10, 2014.
