Racist leaders harming the nation

Umno Baru continues to send a dangerous message, that the party and violence are inseparable.

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Brute force and Umno Baru Youth go hand in hand. From the days when Hishammuddin Hussein was the Youth chief, bullying and intimidating the non-Muslims became a ‘precedence’ and also the party’s penchant.

There is no end in sight. Umno Baru’s so-called young blood keeps preying on the minority communities, condemning them for attempts to question Article 153 of the Federal Constitution that protects Malay rights and privileges.

Back during Hishammuddin’s tenure as Youth chief, it was the Malay dagger or ‘keris’ that did the ‘talking’ at the Umno general assemblies.

The gangster-mentality that has long plagued Umno Baru shows no sign of expiring. And no-thanks to Umno Baru deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin’s ‘unreserved’ support, Umno Youth members who recently stormed the Penang state legislative assembly demanding DAP state assemblyman RSN Rayer apologise for uttering the word ‘Umno celaka’ are gloating with confidence.

Rayer (DAP-Seri Delima) used the word ‘celaka’ to vent his frustration when debating the motion of thanks at the state assembly last week.

The thuggery did not stop there. Armed with ‘blessings’ from ‘big daddy’ Muhyiddin, the Umno Baru Youth members proceeded to stage a protest outside DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and threatened to burn down the building.

Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, when confronted about the gangster antics of Umno Baru Youth reacted biasly. He defended the mob saying that it was a ‘spontaneous reaction’ of those who wanted to defend the party’s honour.

A bunch of blood-thirsty men can go about creating havoc and terror and Muhyiddin is not the slightest worried. Why?

Umno Baru’s hounding of Rayer is nothing new. Similar hoodlum tactics were used by the party’s Youth wing on Feb 26, 2009 when 15 Selangor Umno Youth members invaded the Parliament building and blocked a disabled MP’s entry.

These mobsters were angry with the late Karpal Singh, then MP for Bukit Gelugor, who had labelled Umno Baru’s Youth as ‘celaka’ and accused it of sending him two live bullets via post.

Umno Youth then not only bullied a wheelchair-dependent Karpal. They also protested outside his law firm in Kuala Lumpur and planned similar antics outside Karpal’s house in Penang.

Unlike the fracas in Parliament where the police and security guard made no effort to help Karpal, the planned demonstration outside his residence in Penang was foiled after Karpal complained that the police did nothing to protect him.

Racist leaders harming the nation

While Muhyiddin in all ‘earnest’ is only too pleased with the Machiavellian acts of Umno Baru Youth members, Umno vice-president and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi thinks DAP has got its comeuppance.

Ahmad Zahid was quoted as saying: “The actions of Umno Youth are a manifestation of the anger of Umno Youth’s leaders. Feeling hurt is not something that can be avoided.”

Umno Baru Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has condemned Rayer over the remark. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim wants the Attorney-General to prosecute Rayer under the controversial Sedition Act for his ‘Umno celaka’ remark.

Rayer’s May 20 ‘celaka’ remark even got Umno president and prime minister Najib Tun Razak’s goat.

Ironically, it was not the death of a nun, Sister Julianna Lim who succumbed to brain injuries nine days after being assaulted by a robber outside a church in Seremban on May 14 that got Umno Baru worried.

Umno Baru continues to send a dangerous message, that the party and violence are inseparable.

The remark by Rayer regardless, there was no justification for such violent provocation of the party’s Youth members.

But then when violence is validated by Umno Baru leaders, there is no saying just how far its members will go to ‘teach the other party a lesson’.

A racist party led by dangerously-racist leaders and supported by like-minded members – that is Umno Baru of today, its mission simply one – to destroy anyone who threatens its racist ideology.

The holier-than-thou drama by Najib and Umno Baru will do no wonders for the party’s ‘key performance index’.

On the contrary, it will require next to impossible efforts by Umno Baru to clear its reputation, given the fact that the party continues to condemn the rights of other races and jeopardise racial ties between Malaysians.

Umno Baru’s ‘memory lapse’

The brute force by Umno Baru may have scared Rayer but still, he is determined to never say ‘sorry’.

Rayer had targetted the word ‘celaka’ at three Umno leaders: Kepala Batas MP Reezal Merican Naina, Tasek Gelugor MP Shahbudin Yahya and Penang Umno deputy chief Musa Sheikh Fadzir.

“I was pointing out that these three leaders organised a rally in Seberang Jaya early this year and had held up banners stating ‘May 13disebabkan pemimpim DAP, mau lagi’,”

“I had only wanted to say ‘Damn, how could they do this?’, so translated, I used the word ‘celaka’,” Rayer, a lawyer, had said.

In the meantime, Umno Baru is doing all it humanly can to blow the ‘Rayer and Umno-celaka’ out of proportion, the agenda being to influence voters in Saturday’s Teluk Intan by-election which sees a straight fight between DAP’s newcomer Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong.

Rayer’s ’celaka’ has got Umno Baru’s blood boiling. Controversies are what keep Umno Baru going; still, the Rayer and ‘celaka’ aftermath pale in comparison to the fiasco created by Umno’s big-wigs like Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Jalil.

Shahrizat was embroiled in a scandal that saw her relinquishing her post as Women, Family and Community Development minister.

While she denied any personal link with the National Feedlot Corporation which was managed by her husband and children, she claimed no misappropriation of funds had taken place.

Then too Muhyiddin came to Shahrizat’s rescue. As always, Umno Baru refuses to accept that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and an FMT columnist.