Salleh clueless about patriotism, says DAP

The Communications and Multimedia Minister gets brickbats for questioning the opposition’s loyalty to the country.

(FMT) – Two DAP officials have launched a fresh attack against Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak, saying his recent blog post on patriotism shows that he either does not know what the word means or is trying to mislead the public.

Dapsy member Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud said Salleh appeared confused and Penang DAP vice-chairman Zairil Khir Johari took offence at his attempt to equate the opposition’s words and actions with Nazism.

In his article, Salleh said sabotaging Malaysia’s economy by frightening off foreign investors was not an act of patriotism but an act of treason.

“Some people claim they are criticising the prime minister and are running down the country out of patriotism,” he wrote. “Most historians agree that Adolf Hitler was also a patriot and that Nazism was the product of this patriotism. And 100 million people died because of this.”

Dyana said Salleh ought to know that “patriotism means love for one’s country, not one’s government or head of government.”

If there was anything that could be called economic sabotage, she said, it would be the “global kleptocracy” allegedly practised by the Putrajaya administration.

Commenting on Salleh’s reference to acts that “were nothing less than economic sabotage for selfish, personal political gains and which would affect all Malaysians”, she said that sounded “exactly like what Najib is doing”.

“Any right minded, patriotic, Malaysia-loving Malaysian will not be loyal to or support any kleptocratic government,” she added.

Zairil questioned whether Salleh thought it was patriotic for a Malaysian to keep silent over the controversies surrounding the Najib administration.

“He has the nerve to compare us to the Nazis. Is it patriotism then to receive money in your personal bank account, and then mislead the nation as to the source of the money?

“I just want to say that I believe the Malaysian public can decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. They don’t need the government to pull wool over their eyes by labelling criticisms as fake news.

“They can decide what is patriotic – exposing corruption or stealing public money.”