Namewee: Pakatan demands arrest of Perkasa rabble rousers

Perkasa - trying to stir up physical fights

Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat leaders are demanding the strictest action be taken against Perkasa for burning pictures of controversial rapper Namewee and inciting racial tensions outside the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, where Namewee was giving a talk to a Youth forum.

“The police should have arrested them immediately. Even for the Teoh Beng Hock vigils, the police simply arrested sympathizers who weren’t do anything rowdy. They just grouped together to light candles in his memory but they still got rounded up and roughed up. Why did the police not give the same treatment to the Perkasa group? Their behavior was violent, they incited fear and should be detained under the Sedition Act,” PKR Youth leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin told Malaysia Chronicle.

Trying to recreate May 13

Inciting fear and intimidation

The Perkasa-led protest is the latest racially-tinged incident to erupt in Malaysia, where ethnic tensions and polarization has risen to alarming levels due largely to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s weak leadership.

Najib has not been able lead his Umno party away from its traditional use of racism and religious bigotry to cow the non-Malays into submission, thereby allowing Umno to cling to political power.

In fact, the mixed signals that he has been sending has further emboldened ultra-Malay rights groups like Perkasa and the National Civics Bureau (BTN) to increase their extremist speeches and behavior.

Last night, more than 50 Perkasa members gathered outside the KLSCAH, demanding that Namewee come out and show himself to them.

Many wore the exaggeratedly high songkoks or hats that symbolize Malay culture, waved the Malaysian flag and shouted Namewee babi (pig) and pengkhianat (traitor). They then proceeded to burn pictures of Namewee, hurling abuse and creating further commotion.

Although, no one was injured and no one was arrested either despite the blatant incitement.

“This is getting very dangerous. They came after Namewee because they know he is attending a Youth forum, where the younger participants are more willing to fight back physically. They are trying to crease unrest, maybe even another May 13. Good thing Namewee has a sensible head on his shoulders. If he did tell the audience to keep calm and ignore the Perkasa taunts, a riot could have easily taken place,” DAP MP for Taiping told Malaysia Chronicle.

Najib - the weakest PM so far

Najib's weak leadership to blame

The 27-year old Namewee found himself at the centre of a racial storm that many pundits believed had been stirred up by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in a bid to escape having to take action against two school principals.

The two teachers had hurled racist remarks at their non-Malay pupils and Namewee had produced a three-minute video clip entitled 'Nah', lambasting their actions. Nonetheless, Muhyiddin turned the video clip on Namewee and counter-accused him of being anti-Malay.

Given that Perkasa is widely believed to have the tacit support of Muhyiddin and former premier Mahathir Mohamad, few Malaysians expect the police to take any disciplinary action, although they also said they would not be surprised if the police arrested Namewee instead.

The incident is also a slap in the face for Najib, who on Monday told the United Nations General Assembly in New York to reject extremism and also boasted about his multiracial 1Malaysia plan. Again, given Najib's track record for hypocrisy and inaction, Malaysians expect him to arrest Namewee for extremism rather the Perkasa rabble-rousers.

“Enough is enough. We demand Najib take responsibility. No point going to the UN and making a speech about rejecting extremism when back home he openly supports Perkasa. No point talking about zero-tolerance for racism when the BTN, which is under his department, is indoctrinating the civil service into hating the non-Malays. If Najib fails to act again, he should resign as prime minister. Malaysia deserves better leadership,” Gopeng MP Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.