Govt must defend freedom of speech: Wee
MCA president Wee Ka Siong today called for the government to defend Malaysians’ right to freedom of speech.
During his speech officiating the party’s annual general assembly, Wee asked BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was present, to speak to the relevant parties about the matter.
“In this hall, there are many whose videos have been taken down from social media, such as secretary-general Chong Sin Woon. How many videos have been affected, deleted, removed?
“Even more MCA Youth leaders have been affected by this...
MCA president Wee Ka Siong today called for the government to defend Malaysians’ right to freedom of speech.
During his speech officiating the party’s annual general assembly, Wee asked BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was present, to speak to the relevant parties about the matter.
“In this hall, there are many whose videos have been taken down from social media, such as secretary-general Chong Sin Woon. How many videos have been affected, deleted, removed?
“Even more MCA Youth leaders have been affected by this. What is this?” he said at the San Choon Hall in Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur, this morning.
In February, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching denied claims that there is censorship from Putrajaya after a surge in removed content critical of the government from social media platforms.
She told the Dewan Rakyat that the government does not have control over social media companies and they do not take orders from Putrajaya.
In March last year, TikTok Malaysia assured that it would not adhere to orders from the government regarding its operations in content moderation, saying that it is guided by its own community guidelines.
BN policies recycled
In his speech, Wee also claimed that governments after BN rule maintained elements of his coalition’s policies.
This is despite other parties having criticised the same policies, he added.
“If BN’s ideas and policies have been continued, then why in the past did you insult and defame while inciting the people to hate BN?” he said.
An example of such a policy is Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M), which he claimed has been reused and then renamed as Rahmah Cash Aid (STR).
Another is the e-invoice system which BN previously implemented as part of the goods and services tax (GST), he said.
He repeated his call for the GST to be reimplemented.
Last week, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the GST will only be reinstated if the minimum wage is at least RM3,000 to RM4,000.
Former premier Najib Abdul Razak first introduced GST in 2015 at a rate of six percent, amid massive public protests.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad later repealed GST after Pakatan Harapan won in the 2018 general election.
Give Utar tax exemption
Besides that, Wee called for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) to be established as a tax-exempt institution under the Income Tax Act 1967.
Although Anwar had given the university a tax exemption and written off its RM83 million in unpaid taxes and penalties, Wee said the root of the matter is still unresolved.
In response, Zahid said he would fight for the matter alongside MCA.
He also said the government had agreed to provide a tax exemption for the Utar Education Foundation.
He said more good news would come later, hinting at a later announcement from the government regarding the matter.
In addition, Zahid announced Wee’s appointment as the investment adviser for Chinese nationals and companies, serving under him.
