‘The spate of hate crimes must be stopped’
By Athi Shankar, FMT
GEORGE TOWN: There are groups of extremists who are turning to hate crime to settle their political differences. And Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong thinks that this could be the reason for torching the state DAP headquarters.
He also blames acts of political violence in other parts of the country on these political extremists.
He said these extremists were resorting to hate crime because they refuse to exhaust existing avenues to settle political differences.
He added that these people should have adopted diplomatic channels to raise grievances, address contentious issues and find amicable solutions to problems.
“No religion or civilised community would condone such hate crimes. It’s a violent act of political desperation by anti-democratic elements,” Liew told FMT, referring to the Penang DAP headquarters fire in the early hours yesterday.
Stacks of newspapers placed at the building’s front portion were torched about 3am.
The incident happened just four days after their premise in Jalan Talipon was splashed with red paint.
Several politically motivated hate crimes took place in the country, especially in Penang, in the past few months.
Among them were splashing of green paint at the service centre of Komtar state representative Ng Wei Aik, who is also Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s political secretary.
Other incidents were displaying posters defaming Lim, splashing green paint at the house of Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng and splashing yellow paint at Umno Cheras and Bandar Tun Razak branch premises.
A rowdy protest by Suara Anak-Anak Mamak Pulau Pinang (SAMPP) disrupted a press conference held by Bersih coordinator Toh Kin Woon outside the state police headquarters in Jalan Penang on June 29.
