Anwar says will end racial discrimination if elected PM

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

January 07, 2012

PETALING JAYA, Jan 7 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pledged last night he would rid the country of the “culture” of racial discrimination if he is elected prime minister, affirming that Pakatan Rakyat would uphold the rights of all races.

The PKR de facto leader said he would abolish the PTPTN undergraduate loan system, and not burden the poor with such mechanisms.

Anwar speaking at the ceramah in Subang Jaya on January 6, 2012. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

“We will assist and help all races, that is our difference compared to Umno,” he proclaimed to a 2,000-strong crowd at a ceramah in Subang Jaya.

Anwar pointed out that upholding Islam did not give any Muslim the right to insult or bully non-Muslims, and that this act was against Malay cultural norms.

He recalled a time when a Chinese student (whom he named as Sui Lin) came to him to ask for financial aid to further her studies, and that her family could not afford to pay the university fees.

“This will be my stand. God willing when I get to Putrajaya I will make sure Sui Lin is protected as my daughter is.

“It is conscience, we need to have conscience,” Anwar said.

The 64-year-old grandfather charged that Barisan Nasional’s failure to govern the country has led to rampant corruption.

A view of the crowd which turned up for Anwar’s ceramah in Subang Jaya on January 6, 2012.

“The problem is that our system defends the corrupted,” said Anwar, specifically focusing on the scandal surrounding Senator Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family.

Several Umno warlords have openly asked Shahrizat to resign from her political posts over investigations into her family’s company, the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), which the Auditor-General said was in a financial “mess” after getting RM250 million in public funds.

The Women, Family and Community Development minister has said the company has nothing to do with her and Najib and his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, have denied that she has sent a resignation letter.

But a new probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has sparked speculation that Shahrizat will have to go rather than have the scandal smear Umno.

“Throw these cattle thieves into the sea. This is our country.

“We cannot allow the abuses to continue unabated,” said Anwar.