Racism in Malaysia continues to be perpetuated as a way for some leaders to stay in power, a human rights activist said on the eve of the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, the patron of civil society group Negara-Ku, added that Malaysian leaders today were getting away with racist statements, and described Umno minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the "new Ibrahim Ali" for his call to boycott Chinese businesses.
"Ismail is the new Ibrahim Ali. These are the kind of leaders we have in our country today, where they can get away with making the most racist remarks," she said.
Ibrahim is president of Perkasa, a right-wing Malay rights groups that believes in the supremacy of the race.
Ambiga said Ismail also reportedly told non-Muslims to stay out of the hudud issue as it has nothing to do with them.
"It has everything to do with us when the victims could be non-Muslims under hudud offences.
"But just look at the respect our leaders show to us as citizens," she said at a tea session with a group of 30 people in Brickfields today.
Ambiga
Ismail told Barisan Nasional's non-Muslim component parties not to meddle in issues concerning Islam when commenting on the hudud bill which was passed at the Kelantan state assembly yesterday.
Last month, the agriculture and agro-based industries minister made his call for Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses as a move to fight profiteering.
Ambiga said today the future of Malaysia rested in the hands of the people and not in the country's leadership.
She added that many years ago, Malaysia took a strong stand against apartheid, adding that Malaysian leaders even went to South Africa to show support for its anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, who later became the country's first black president.
Ambiga said this showed that Malaysian leaders had made a stand against racism in South Africa.
"The unfortunate thing is that they don't disagree with racism in Malaysia and their stand is that the situation is different in Malaysia.
"Racism is allowed so that certain people can entrench themselves in positions of power," she said.
March 21 is designated by the United Nations as international day for the elimination of racial discrimination and the theme for this year is "Learning from historical tragedies to combat racial discrimination today".
Negara-Ku central committee member Jerald Joseph said it was sad that history was being used to keep the people in fear in Malaysia, such as frequent mention of race riots in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, 1969, to silence dissent.
Ismail Sabri
Negara-Ku chairperson Zaid Kamaruddin said that the people's movement was pushing for elimination of all forms of racial discrimination in accordance with the spirit of the Federal Constitution, Malaysia Agreement and Rukunegara.
He also urged the government to immediately ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, adding that Malaysia was currently at historical crossroads.
"When future generations discuss us and say 'we must learn from history' when referring to us, will it be in a positive tone or will it mean learning from a historical tragedy that we failed to prevent?
"It is up to us to decide," he said. – TMI
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