Barisan rep's 'Anak Cina' poem riles up Opposition lawmakers

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The recital of a poem titled Anak Cina caused an uproar in the Johor state assembly sitting here Wednesday morning.

Barisan Nasional's Ali Mazat Salleh (pic) recited the poem during the debate session, which started with "Anak cina memasang lukah (Chinese child sets a fish trap)".

After the verse, he continued to mention Opposition-held constituencies like Senai, Mengkibol and Stulang.

He repeated the same verse a few times, causing Tan Hong Pin (Mengkibol-DAP), Yeo Tung Siong (Pekan Nenas-DAP) and Gan Peck Cheng (Penggaram-DAP) to stand up and protest.

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"Teruk betul (this is terrible), Bukit Permai, please get out of this assembly hall because you are touching on race (issues)," said Yeo.

Gan also raised her voice, saying "don't use the term Chinese, we are all Bangsa Johor".

To which, Ali Mazat retorted and said, "this is my poem, I can mention whomever's child I please".

The shouting match went on for about five minutes before Johor Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Aziz told Ali Mazat to stop reciting the poem and continue with his speech. -star