Dr M says ‘racist’ Kit Siang wants to pit Chinese against Malays
Syed Jaymal Zahiid, TMI
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has dubbed Lim Kit Siang “an extremist racist”, saying last night the DAP strongman was trying to sway the Chinese to hate the Malays in a bid to shore up support ahead of the May 5 general election.
Speaking before a Malay crowd here, the former prime minister said Lim and the DAP have been “poisoning” Chinese minds in the polls campaign by telling them the community are victims of discrimination by a Malay government.
“I will say it out as vocal as possible. Lim Kit Siang is a racist. Lim Kit Siang is a racist. Lim Kit Siang is an extremist racist,” the country’s longest-serving prime minister told a crowd of about 3,000 adoring Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters.
Dr Mahathir said that Lim’s move to contest in Gelang Patah, a Chinese-majority federal seat in Johor, was the clearest evidence of the DAP’s racism, an accusation he has repeatedly made in his campaign to help the ruling coalition defend the BN fortress state from an opposition onslaught.
“Why am I calling Lim Kit Siang a racist? It’s because he has gone to contest in Gelang Patah where the majority there are Chinese. There, he will persuade the Chinese to hate the Malays,” he said.
The Chinese form the majority in Gelang Patah at 52 per cent followed by the Malays and Indians at 34 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. There are 106,726 registered voters there for Election 2013.
Lim faces four-term incumbent Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in the fight for the federal seat.
Dr Mahathir claimed the Chinese have enjoyed political and economic freedom under BN rule and dismissed allegations of racial discrimination.
He pointed out that most of Malaysia’s richest people are non-Malays, naming tycoons like Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan and Tan Sri Vincent Tan as examples of BN’s success in ensuring equitable development among all races.
