Umno at odds with race-tolerant world, says HRP
By Athi Shankar, Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Party (HRP) today congratulated Malaysia-born Penny Wong for her appointment as Australia’s new finance minister and used the occasion to denounce the current Malaysian government as racist and out of tune with the times.
HRP pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar said Wong’s appointment yesterday to the Australian cabinet was part of a global tide against racial and religious prejudice.
“Sadly, though, this will never happen in our 1Malaysia,” he said.
“The whole world is now going against racist and religious supremacy, except our Umno-ruled 1Malaysia.”
Uthayakumar, a former ISA detainee, is also the legal advisor for Hindraf Makkal Sakti.
He also criticised Pakatan Rakyat parties for similarly going against the global trend.
He said Malaysia was not only bucking current trends but also going against its own admirable history of appointing officials without reference to their racial or religious backgrounds.
He recalled that the first minister of education of the yet-to-be-independent Malaya in 1955 was Clough Thuraisangam and that in post-independence Malaya the first two finance ministers were Tan Cheng Lock and Tun Tan Siew Sin, the first navy chief was Rear Admiral K Thanabalasingam, the first chief justice was CS Gill and the first governor of Malacca was Leong Yew Koh.
“And the list goes on if one were to refresh one’s memory on the number non-Malay or non-Muslim CPOs, OCPDs, district officers and council mayors,” he said.
“This cannot happen again in Umno’s 1Malaysia.”
