A rebuttal to MCA’s defence of Najib

A humble word of advice for the MCA religious harmony bureau chief Ti Lian Ker. Before embarking on any attack campaign against a political opponent, please at least do some homework.

I feel called upon to provide him with some free “tuition” with regards to his lazy but scathing attacks on DAP and my colleague Liew Chin Tong.

I will do this by unravelling his misdirection point-by-point, by stating historical and contemporary facts. Not doing so will be a disservice to him, as a fellow Malaysian, and to our beloved country.

DAP has always been at the front and centre of resisting MCA’s collusion with Umno.

Namely, their collusion is to incite racial polarisation. We have ample jail time to prove it.

Ti accuses DAP of being absent during the tragic incident of May 13th in 1969. Ti also failed to mention that Umno, partnering by MCA, has for years propagated the utterly fabricated narrative of DAP being the instigator of the violence that took place. So which one of those conflicting lies have they settled on?

Nevertheless, as a result of either of those lies, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang was thrown into jail for 18 months. This was the start of Umno and MCA’s addiction to the abuse of power through the oppression of opponents and dissenters.

Ti need not look too far; how about Malaysia’s long list of activists and politicians who have been imprisoned for speaking up against the injustices and atrocities of MCA and their bosses?

He will find a large percentage of them being leaders and members of the DAP. The party’s strong presence in the frontline of resistance throughout the years is what has gained DAP the support of the people.

Sadly but defiantly, it is also the exact reason why so many of our leaders, past and present, suffered  persecution by prosecution from BN.

MCA can lie as they will till kingdom come; the Malaysian people are neither ignorant nor blind. DAP has always been present, and have never surrendered even when under the most violent of assaults by MCA and their bosses Umno. It is only MCA who buries their head in denial of that fact.

DAP MPs were there immediately with traders and police in the LowYat incident.

Just Google it. In the 2015 incident, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun led a delegation of Kuala Lumpur MPs to visit the site at the soonest possible moment. They assisted the police in handling the aftermath, and to calm tensions.

DAP MPs also continued their visits days after the incident to continue speaking with traders in solidarity. This was to help them lift the fog of chaos and fear. There are plenty of news reports and photographs on the internet to corroborate these hard truths that Ti appears to be selectively blind to.

Najib is “honest”?

Really? Have you heard of 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion donation? The world’s largest and widest kleptocracy scandal with multiple prosecutions worldwide, namely the 1MDB scandal, wrapped around his neck – and Ti uses the word “honest” to describe Najib? If Ti truly believes that, he is being dishonest to himself.

Expression of care and concern, or outright politics of fear?

Either Ti didn’t spend sufficient time and effort reading Chin Tong’s statement that he utterly failed in his rebuttal, or he is simply dodging. By repeating and selectively quoting Najib’s speech, he is simply pouring fuel on the anger already felt towards MCA and Najib.

Perhaps Ti could tell the Malaysian people whether Hishamuddin Hussein’s brandishing of the keris on at the Umno general assembly in 2005 was a threat of violence against those standing in the way of Umno’s agenda of electoral supremacy? And whether or not Najib is using the same tactic to scare Chinese voters into submission?

Is Najib being honest in his praise for Islamic State?

Ti spoke also of Najib’s commitment to fighting Islamic State (IS), so they don’t harm Malaysians including the Chinese. Ti needs to be reminded that in June 2014, during the Cheras Umno anniversary celebrations, Najib openly sung the praises of IS’ bravery and fearlessness, and how even three-four star generals run for their lives in the middle of the night.

Perhaps Ti can enlighten Malaysians on whether Najib was being “honest” then?

Pleading racial harmony with shrouded threats to Chinese

And doing this while employing racially polarising rhetoric to Malays. Ti claims that Najib’s statement to the thousands of representatives of Chinese guild and association leaders and MCA members was one out of concern and to reinforce the notion of racial harmony.

If that is true, then Najib – and Ti – should immediately cease the racially polarising rhetoric and outright lies to the Malay community that DAP and Pakatan Harapan are being controlled by the Chinese, to perpetuate and worsen inter-ethnic animosity.

It is Ti and MCA who should apologise.

Ti’s laughable request for Chin Tong to apologise is nonsensical. It is he who has misinterpreted history and misled those who have read his statement. Whether he was simply of ignorant of the truth out of laziness, shame or denial, it is Ti Lian Ker who needs to apologise to the Malaysian people.

DAP welcomes a rebuttal from Ti or any other BN players.

Malaysians await their answers to questions raised here. The Hishamuddin keris-waving incident, the Najib praising IS speech, the Utusan Malaysia post-GE13 headline of “Apa lagi orang Cina mahu” (What more do the Chinese want) are probably things that Ti has been blind and deaf to, or have chosen to be mute on.

Perhaps he should take a little time and effort to go through these in detail, before deciding whether to issue a reply. If he doesn’t, it’s clear that he has seen the light that Najib’s speech deserves the brickbats that it has received, and more.

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HOWARD LEE CHUAN HOW is the state assemblyperson for Pasir Pinji.- Mkini