AIR-HEAD HISHAM! ‘Nonsense’ to compare Ismail Sabri’s remarks with Islamic State - DAP MP

KUALA LUMPUR - Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein completely missed the point when he compared allegedly racially-tinged comments by a Cabinet colleague with the Islamic State (IS) militant group, a DAP lawmaker said today.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said there was no way the atrocities committed by the terrorist organisation could be seen in the same light as Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s call for Malays to boycott Chinese businesses.

“What is Hishammuddin’s motive for saying that? Does he want to see a Chinese trader burned alive like what the IS did to a Jordanian pilot recently before he criticises Ismail Sabri’s racist statement?” Lim said in a statement.

Earlier today, Hishammuddin — who is defence minister — said Ismail Sabri’s recent jibe against Chinese traders was nowhere as bad as what the IS have done.

“If you want to talk about moderation, I think the IS burning of the Jordanian pilot is far worse than this case involving Ismail Sabri,” he said, adding that the whole issue has been “blown out of proportion”.

Ismail Sabri has come under public pressure after putting up a Facebook post urging the Malays to boycott goods sold by Chinese traders for alleged profiteering despite the dip in global fuel prices.

The police have also started a probe on the issue, but the agriculture and agro-based industries minister said this morning that he will only have time to give his statement after his working trip to Indonesia next week.

Lim today said Hishammuddin, as a former home minister, should know better than to defend such a speech and instead urge Ismail Sabri to stop dithering and help the police do their job.

MP Lim Lip Eng

“I am confident that rational and intelligent Malaysians who have read Ismail’s statement have their own conclusions.

“However, if he believes he is on the side of right, there is nothing wrong for him to give his statement to the police, so that the police can complete their investigations quickly,” he said.

In his Facebook post Monday, Ismail Sabri claimed that the high price of goods, despite the dip in fuel costs, was a form of sabotage aimed at stirring public dissent against Putrajaya.

He also singled out the Old Town White Coffee franchise as an example of an “anti-Islamic” business and claiming it was linked to Perak DAP Chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham.

Ismail Sabri has since deleted the Facebook post, and Putrajaya issued a statement to “clarify” that the minister was referring to all unscrupulous traders and not only those of Chinese descent. - Malay Mail