Malaysian official Jamal Mohamad Yunos defends use of anti-Chinese taunts
An official of Malaysia’s ruling party has defended the calling of ethnic Chinese “pigs” – a deeply insulting slur in the predominantly Muslim nation, where racial tensions are rising.
Lindsay Murdoch, Sydney Morning Herald
Jamal Mohamad Yunos said that for Muslim Malays the word pig is sensitive but “for the Chinese what is the problem? It is their food”.
Critics have accused the United Malays National Organisation, the party that has governed the country for decades, of using the race card to divert attention from graft allegations swirling around prime minister Najib Razak, who is under intense pressure to resign.
Malaysia’s population of 30 million consists of 67 percent Malays, most of whom are Muslims, 24 per cent Chinese and seven per cent Indians.
A pro-government ‘red shirt’ protester prays with a face mask emblazoned with the “Malay United” slogan at the pro-government demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Race riots in 1969 led to an UMNO-led government implementing an affirmative action program that granted Malays economic and other privileges over ethnic Chinese, Indians and other minorities.
Opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim, who is now serving a jail sentence on what he says are trumped up sodomy charges, pledged to dismantle the system if he won elections in 2013.
Authorities in Kuala Lumpur, who have in the past been quick to arrest scores of government critics under draconian laws, have not moved against protesters who uttered racial slurs during Wednesday’s demonstration that turned unruly, with police having to fire water cannon.
Riot police fire a water cannon at pro-government “red shirt” protesters as they try to enter Chinatown during a demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Mr Jamal is an UMNO official and one of the key leaders of the protest.
Mr Najib said anyone who broke laws at the event should be prosecuted. But in his latest public comments the prime minister lashed out at critics demanding he explain how US$700 million ($975 million) mysteriously turned up in his personal banks accounts in 2013, or what happened to the money, saying blackmailers, forgers and foreigners are interfering in the country. “There is no lie they will not tell, no rumour they will not spread, so that they can say Malaysia is on a dangerous course,” he told an UMNO gathering.
“But they are the danger. In their desperate wish to overthrown a democratically elected government they are willing to risk instability that has led to violent revolutions in many countries, some very close to us.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur, earlier this month. Photo: AP
Instead of attacking the organisers of Wednesday’s government-approved demonstration he condemned an outlawed but peaceful two-day anti-government protest on August 29 and 30 that attracted one of the biggest crowds in Malaysia’s recent past.
“It is not right to organise rallies dominated by one race, which the expressed aim of toppling the government … as we have seen, this then leads to rallies by other races,” he said.
