Pakatan demands Lian Hoe be sacked from Cabinet for glove comments

Calls are growing for Gerakan’s Tan Lian Hoe to be sacked immediately and her boss Ismail Sabri, the Domestric Trade Cooperative and Consumer Affairs minister, to be suspended after she was caught making ultra racist remarks against PAS’ Normala Sudirman.

No doubt, Tan may have thought she was ‘politicking’ but Pakatan Rakyat leaders say if she thinks “anything goes, she is very wrong” and must be taught a lesson immediately.

Her boss Ismail Sabri must also explain why he stood by while she ranted away. As a full-fledged minister, he has a duty to protect all the races. For sake of winning the good graces of the Chinese voters, why did Ismail forget these principles and let her get away without an on-the-spot reprimand, they demanded.

“Racial and religious bigotry must be stopped. It has gotten to such levels that if MCA and Gerakan leaders think the Chinese community will welcome them if they insult our Malay and Muslim friends, they are wrong,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“We urge the Chinese community in Tenang to show that the Chinese race is not as uncultured as Tan Lian Hoe or Chua Soi Lek. We demand that Tan and Chua apologise immediately and urge Prime Minister Najib Razak to explain to the people what sort of racial games are Umno, MCA and Gerakan up to. At the very least, Tan must be sacked from the Cabinet. Her comments were too extreme.”

One of the first things that Tan had done in Tenang this morning was visit Pasar Labis. There she had attacked Normala.

“This is the most basic thing... Not only men, but when she shakes hands with women, she also needs to wear glove. This is not friendly. It's as if she thinks our hands are dirty.I hope the Chinese voters are careful (with Islamic state). We are very worried about the Islamic state. They want to implement an extremist Islamic state,”Malaysiakini reported Tan as saying.

Unmanly

Ismail Sabri had accompanied her, but did nothing when she uttered those comments that have already lit a fire of protest throughout the Muslim community in the country.

Calls are also growing for Minister in the PM’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom to explain his deafening silence. As Minister in charge of religious affairs, pundits say he must explain why he has not taken action when it is obvious a religion was being ridiculed and used to create racial fear and hatred. But so far, Jamil has only issued a lame warning without daring to name any party in particular.

MCA president Chua Soi Lek had earlier this week engineered the strategy to regain Chinese votes by bashing down Islamic values and PAS. During a talk at a Chinese temple, he had accused Normala of being unfriendly or snobbish to the other races because she wore gloves when she shook hands.

His son Tee Yong took over on Sunday. “Candidate Normala is wearing gloves and her assistant is shaking hands on her behalf. She will definitely claim it is for health or personal reason,” Tee Yong gleefully tweeted on his micro-blogging site.

Tee Yong is now the Labis MP. He was given the seat to contest after his father was forced to quit due to a sex scandal. Soi Lek had been filmed having sex with a woman who was not his wife in 2007. He resigned in disgrace as Health minister and Labis MP.

“He has already brought MCA down with his sexual exploits. Now he is making the party hated and known for religious and racial bigotry. The Chinese in this country must stand up and reject him. They cannot stand by and condemn Ibrahim Ali and then let Tan Lian Hoe, Chua Tee Yong and Chua Soi Lek get away with what is similarly unacceptable behavior,” Gopeng MP Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.

“We also demand accountability from Najib. He must ensure fair play for Muslim women for whom this is a prescribed practise. It is only the ulu people like Soi Lek and (Gerakan president Koh) Tsu Koon who will take advantage, not the normal and decent majority. They may be unhappy with Umno, they may not agree with the practice but they won't sink so low as to do something tantamount to persecuting a woman for her religious beliefs. It is not only below the belt but unmanly.”

Co-ordinated effort by the BN

Ibrahim Ali is the president-founder of ultra Malay rights group Perkasa. Since the start of 2010, Ibrahim and his group have angered Malaysians with their boorish behavior and antics. The most recent was their behind-the-scenes role in the burning of an effigy of an MCA man who had complained about the loudness of an azan or call-to-prayer from a mosque in Lembah Pantai.

"We urge Malaysians to remain calm and not to allow themselves to be flustered and angered by what is obviously a co-ordinated effort amongst the BN components and led by Umno to create racial disharmony and fear. We don't know yet what their exact motive is but we suspect they may be trying to stir up racial riots," Taiping Mp Nga Kor Ming told Malaysia Chronicle. - Malaysia Chronicle