Malay dailys open letter counters PMs claim
Ajinder KaurPublished: Jan 2, 2001 11:53 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Utusan Malaysia's frontpaged "Open Letter to Malays" yesterday is a clear rebuttal of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement that the "Malay unity" call was to safeguard Malay interests and not to oppose or create animosity with others, an opposition leader said today.
DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang said in a statement that the letter's question as to whether the other races feel threatened by the Malays or whether the other races were slowly threatening the Malays, contradicts the prime minister's assurances.
Lim added that the Malay daily is continuing to use Suqiu as a threat to Malays despite the Chinese umbrella body's repeated clarification that it supported Article 153 of the Constitution, which states the special position of the Malays.
"If a Chinese newspaper group editor-in-chief had written an 'Open Letter to Malaysian Chinese' in a similar vein, referring to Chinese interests and the need for Chinese unity, instant action would have been taken against him under the Internal Security Act and the newspaper group closed under the Printing Presses and Publications Act," he said.
Lim added that a slew of very communal writings in the Bahasa Malaysia media has created concerns that the "Malay unity" call will escalate greater ethnic polarisation in Malaysian politics and society, and break the momentum towards multiracial politics.
Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia frontpaged a letter from its editor-in-chief Khalid Mohd, which among other things said that Suqiu's appeal that other races be given the same rights and treatment as the Malays, was a subtle threat to abolish the Malay special rights. It also questioned whether the other races respected the Malays, and if not, why?
No 1 issues
Meanwhile, Keadilan youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor today accused the Malay daily of misquoting him and running away from the main question on the "Malay unity" issue.
In an open letter to Utusan Malaysia's editor-in-chief, Ezam said that the main issue that has to be highlighted is the problem of corruption and abuse of power involving the country's politicians, regardless of race and religion.
"This is not a Malay problem. There is nothing wrong with the Malays. The Malay politicians are the problem," he said, adding that the newspaper had failed to publish this stand by Keadilan Youth.
Ezam also called on the government's commitment to involve its agencies, local banks and the Anti-Corruption Agency in discussions to clearly show where the problem prevailed.
"The government must first prove its commitment through an open statement about its readiness to openly discuss corruption, abuse of power and bailout packages which are the country's No 1 issues," he said.
Ezam added that Keadilan youth will go all out locally and overseas to address these issues.
"Utusan Malaysia has failed to remind the leaders on corruption and misuse of power in order to protect certain important people such as Zainudin Maidin (senator and former Utusan editor-in-chief). Therefore we are forced to do so ourselves," he said.
DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang said in a statement that the letter's question as to whether the other races feel threatened by the Malays or whether the other races were slowly threatening the Malays, contradicts the prime minister's assurances.
Lim added that the Malay daily is continuing to use Suqiu as a threat to Malays despite the Chinese umbrella body's repeated clarification that it supported Article 153 of the Constitution, which states the special position of the Malays.
"If a Chinese newspaper group editor-in-chief had written an 'Open Letter to Malaysian Chinese' in a similar vein, referring to Chinese interests and the need for Chinese unity, instant action would have been taken against him under the Internal Security Act and the newspaper group closed under the Printing Presses and Publications Act," he said.
Lim added that a slew of very communal writings in the Bahasa Malaysia media has created concerns that the "Malay unity" call will escalate greater ethnic polarisation in Malaysian politics and society, and break the momentum towards multiracial politics.
Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia frontpaged a letter from its editor-in-chief Khalid Mohd, which among other things said that Suqiu's appeal that other races be given the same rights and treatment as the Malays, was a subtle threat to abolish the Malay special rights. It also questioned whether the other races respected the Malays, and if not, why?
No 1 issues
Meanwhile, Keadilan youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor today accused the Malay daily of misquoting him and running away from the main question on the "Malay unity" issue.
In an open letter to Utusan Malaysia's editor-in-chief, Ezam said that the main issue that has to be highlighted is the problem of corruption and abuse of power involving the country's politicians, regardless of race and religion.
"This is not a Malay problem. There is nothing wrong with the Malays. The Malay politicians are the problem," he said, adding that the newspaper had failed to publish this stand by Keadilan Youth.
Ezam also called on the government's commitment to involve its agencies, local banks and the Anti-Corruption Agency in discussions to clearly show where the problem prevailed.
"The government must first prove its commitment through an open statement about its readiness to openly discuss corruption, abuse of power and bailout packages which are the country's No 1 issues," he said.
Ezam added that Keadilan youth will go all out locally and overseas to address these issues.
"Utusan Malaysia has failed to remind the leaders on corruption and misuse of power in order to protect certain important people such as Zainudin Maidin (senator and former Utusan editor-in-chief). Therefore we are forced to do so ourselves," he said.
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