DAP again at loggerheads with Malay groups

Written by Chua Sue-Ann, The Edge   

DAP has yet again found itself embroiled in conflict with Malay groups over the party leaders’ alleged questioning of Malay rights and privileges.

The recent round of criticisms sparked after DAP Vice-President M Kulasegaran said during the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Dec 3 that the concept of ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) went against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan.

Over the years, the predominantly Chinese party has had to fend off criticism that it had challenged the special status of the Malays and Islam.

Ahmad Mahayuddin Abdul Manaf today lodged a police report in Shah Alam against Kulasegaran for the latter’s statements.

Ahmad Mahayuddin is among the six people charged with sedition and the 12 people facing charges of illegal assembly and the six also charged with sedition for their roles in protesting the relocation of a Hindu temple in Shah Alam on Aug 28.

The incident has since been dubbed the “cow head” protest after the group stomped on a severed cow’s head, prompting intense public anger.

At a press conference in parliament’s lobby today, Kulasegaran dismissed Ahmad Mahayuddin’s police report as “nothing unusual” and urged the police to first investigate a police report lodged by his secretary last Saturday in Ipoh.

Kulasegaran’s aide had lodged a police report against Gagasan Melayu Perak (GMP), who stage a protest against Kulasegaran and submitted a memorandum to the Perak DAP headquarters in Ipoh last Saturday.

The Malay nationalist group were venting their anger at Kulasegaran’s purported questioning of Malay supremacy in parliament, which they contend had sparked unhappiness in the Malay community.

The group, led by GMP President Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Hilmi Ismail, had also unfurled a large yellow banner outside DAP’s premises warning Kulasegaran not to speak about ketuanan Melayu and told the latter to give up his citizenship if he was dissatisfied.

Kulasegaran said the police have asked him to give a statement but maintained that his statements were contained in the parliamentary Hansard for Dec 3.

“Anyway, as you know the police won’t do anything,” Kulasegaran quipped.

The Ipoh Barat member of parliament maintained that he had never questioned Malay rights and privileges, adding that ketuanan Melayu was an “Umno putera” concept which was nowhere to be found in the Federal Constitution.

“I was born here in Malaysia, I live and shall die here. I will not give up my citizenship. No one can take away my citizenship,” Kulasegaran reiterated.

The 12 “cow head” protesters today also attempted to show their displeasure against DAP by stepping on a banner featuring photographs of DAP leaders Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur), Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (Bagan) and Nga Kor Ming (Taiping).

The group were also reported to have shouted slogans warning people “not to make fools of the Malays (Jangan bodohkan orang Melayu)”.

The move followed in the steps of Perak DAP who last week courted controversy after the party’s delegates stepped on a banner bearing the photographs of three former Pakatan Rakyat (PR) assemblymen in Perak.

The three indepedent assemblymen, who have pledged their allegiance to Barisan Nasional, have been blamed for the switch in the Perak state government.

Commenting on the incident, Nga slammed the protesters as having “mentality that is still stagnant in the Jurassic era”.

“These group of people does not represent the Malays and they are not qualified to represent the Malays,” Nga told reporters.

Meanwhile, Perak DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham also accused Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali for attempting to “provoke” those at a ceramah on Monday in Batu Kurau, near Taiping by encouraging them to step on photographs of DAP leaders.

“I hope we have a new chapter where all parties would encourage healthy political culture,” Ngeh said.

Utusan Melayu yesterday quoted Ibrahim, who is an independent MP, as saying that the destruction of Malays would be more critical if the Malays did not unite against DAP, which he said was trampling on the bumiputera and Islam.