Don't fall for red shirt race-baiting, urges don
Malaysians should not respond to race-baiting at Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu that took place on Wednesday, University of Malaya law lecturer Azmi Sharom urged.
He said when he heard Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Md Yunos’ justification that it is fine to call the ethnic Chinese ‘ Cina babi ’ (Chinese pigs), his first thought was to respond in kind - Melayu lembu (Malay cows).
However, , as tempting as it is to do so, he said this should not be the case and civil society should move beyond that.
“The way civil society should move forward is that we must fight for what is right. Forget about the race card.
“Just keep on fighting for what is just and right and eventually people will see that what you are fighting for is correct.
“No matter what happens to us, you just keep on going,” he told a forum in Petaling Jaya today.
‘Cina babi’ was among the racial slurs hurled at the rally in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 16, including against Chinese Malaysian reporters covering the rally.
Jamal (photo) later said the term is only offensive to Malays but not the Chinese, because the Chinese consumes pork whereas it is forbidden to Malays, who are by definition also Muslims.
This prompted netizens to came up with various iterations of the slur for other ethnic groups in a bid to ridicule the issue, including ‘Melayu lembu’.
Call out their bulls**t
Azmi said that instead of taking the bait, it is better to call out the nonsense being bandied about by Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu’s supporters.
“If we hear bulls**t, we must be able to point out that it is bulls**t.
"For example, (the claim that) Malay reserve land is being taken over. Okay, if Malay reserve land is being taken over, it is being taken by whom?
“Every single that that has Malay reserve land is governed by a Malay menteri besar.
"The only state that doesn’t have a Malay menteri besar is Penang, and in Penang there is no Malay reserve land,” he said.
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