1 Malaysia in further peril with more racist remarks

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appears to be losing the battle to rally public support for his 1 Malaysia campaign with yet another of his men reported to have spouted racist remarks while in Penang recently, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said today.

The veteran politician claimed that Second Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohd Hanadzlah was reported to have said: “Kalau orang Cina di Pulau Pinang buli kita, kita lawan balik orang Cina (If Penang Chinese bully us, we fight back the Chinese)” while attending a dinner held by the Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce last Friday.

Ipoh-born Husni has denied making such a statement.

But Lim said Husni’s words were taped and carried in the evening edition of the state’s local papers the following day even though they were later removed from the Sunday morning newspapers.

“I am very surprised as DAP MPs have always found Husni as a very rational, level-headed and reasonable deputy minister ... we find it most shocking that he could have uttered such a racially-laden statement, which runs counter to what Najib’s 1 Malaysia represents,” the Ipoh-Timur MP told DAP members in a speech after opening a new branch office here this morning.

Lim noted that Husni has always been moderate and the remark was “out of character” and blamed the island-state’s Umno faction for turning his fellow Perakian’s head.

“The only explanation is that when Husni went to Penang, he was influenced by the sustained hate campaign of Umno Penang exploiting the “race and religion” card falsely painting Penang Chief Minister and Pakatan Rakyat Penang State Government as anti-Malay and anti-Islam,” Lim said.

The DAP man called on Husni “not to succumb to the Penang Umno virus” and to do his duty to nip the “irresponsible and seditious campaign of hate and racism.”

Early last month, a member of Najib’s inner circle, Datuk Nasir Safar, was forced to quit his post as special officer to the PM after being caught for spewing derogatory and seditious words against the Chinese and Indian community at a 1 Malaysia event.

courtesy of Malaysian Insider