Gerakan: 'Don't give face to racial extremists'

Gerakan calls for Malaysians not to give face or space to racial extremists who are out to destroy Premier Najib Abdul Razak's 1Malaysia concept.

Party chief Koh Tsu Koon (left) said, “There are racial extremists in Perkasa and some in Umno, who are out to promote their own political interests (at the expense of a multi-racial society).”

“We have to criticise (such activities in order) to promote racial harmony in the country,” said Koh, who is also national unity and performance management minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

He said more Malaysians must subscribe to the spirit of promoting the 1Malaysia concept, and should not succumb to the racial hatred spread by people who have personal ulterior motives.

Koh says by not giving such people publicity and time of day, such hatred can be prevented from flourishing in the country.

He said this when asked what he thought of Perkasa being a thorn in the side of Najib's 1Malaysia concept.

Koh was speaking at a press conference after officiating the party's Perak convention in Ipoh today that was attended by 314 state delegates.

'Race-based parties outdated'

Party deputy chief Chang Ko Youn in his speech echoed Koh, saying that the issue of race and religion is again rearing its ugly head in the political arena.

He also said that Perkasa and some in Umno are playing the racial and religion cards to score points on Malay issues, and accused the DAP of playing along for political mileage.

“Create any spark (in racial relations) and we are going to have problems,” said Chang (left).

“The political landscape for BN component parties, of (being) race-based and fighting for one's community is outdated now,” said Chang, who is also party state chief .

“I urge race-based parties like MCA, MIC and Umno to change their party constitutions and open up as multi-racial parties to safeguard the interests of all Malaysians,” he said.

At the same press conference, Koh commented on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Income Tax Department and the Malaysian Customs Department calling for them to punish the big fish rather than the small ones, in their efforts to fight corruption.

“Catching a big fish is better than catching 1,000 small fishes,” said Koh.

'Big fish getting away'

Gerakan believes that there are numerous big fish that think they are above the law and are getting away scot-free while these three departments hunt down the small fish.

He said the three departments must change their modus operandi of carrying out raids just to boost public confidence, otherwise the public may get the impression that they are only used to catch minor offenders.

Koh notes that small to medium business are being targeted while the big businesses seem to escape the authorities' dragnets.

In his speech Koh also supported the call by Malaysian employers to liberalise the intake of foreign workers as several sectors were facing acute labour shortage, which was holding back Malaysian businesses from flourishing.

“Open up (the country to) foreign labour and in five or ten years time, we will have a high income economy,” he said.

Koh also touched on corruption saying that after 50 years in power, power tends to corrupt and a new system to prevent abuse and misuse of power was needed.

His speech contained other gems such as a suggestion that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was not using the 1Malaysia slogan in Penang because he was “scared that Najib will become more popular than him .

courtesy of Malaysiakini