Avoid race bait, just fight for what is right, says Azmi Sharom

Speaking at the Malaysia Freedom Summit in Petaling Jaya today, law professor Dr Azmi Sharom says Malaysians must educate themselves so that they can detect false claims being propagated around. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Kamal Ariffin, September 20, 2015.Instead of rising to their race bait, Malaysians should counter the message of the "red shirt" rally organisers by exposing their "bullshit" to the public and doing the right thing, prominent academic Dr Azmi Sharom said today.

The outspoken associate law professor said he had personally wanted to call the rally organisers "lembu" (cows) when he learnt Datuk Jamal Md Yunos had said "Cina babi" (Chinese pig) was not a slur as Chinese consume pork.

"Melayu lembu! That was the first thing that came to my mind. Hang lembu, hang kambing, hang ayam (You are a cow, you are a goat, you are a chicken).

\"But don't rise to it. The point is, whatever we do, the way civil society should move forward is that we must fight for what is right. Forget about the race card," Azmi said at the Malaysia Freedom Summit 2015 in Petaling Jaya today.

He said Malaysians should educate themselves so that they can detect any false claims being propagated around.

"If we hear bullshit, we must be able to point out that it is bullshit. For example, (they say) Malay reserve land is being taken away. Okay. If it's being taken away, who is taking it away?

"Every single state that has Malay reserve land is governed by a Malay menteri besar and a Malay Cabinet.

"The only one state that doesn't have a Malay menteri besar is Penang, and in Penang there is no Malay reserve land," said Azmi.

He reminded the forum that despite the heavy publicity given to last Wednesday's "red shirt" rally, only 24% of the 516 Malays polled by Merdeka Center said they supported it.

Azmi added that the rally did not reflect the mentality of all Malays, and that the majority of the community were more concerned about bread-and-butter issues.

He said Putrajaya was now relying on fear to continue ruling, but such tactics would not last, as made evident by the defiance shown against the home ministry's ban on Bersih 4 t-shirts.

"During the Bersih 4 rally, I honestly thought people would not wear yellow or Bersih t-shirts. But everyone did. There's only so far you can go with fear because you can't catch all of us."

Wednesday’s “red shirt” rally or Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu, organised by a coalition of Malay groups, was held to counter last month’s Bersih 4 rally, which they claimed had insulted the Malay race.

The rally saw racially-charged remarks and placards, with tense moments when participants were upset over questions posed by some journalists.

Riot police were also forced to use water cannons to stop rowdy protesters from entering Petaling Street, a popular tourist destination in Kuala Lumpur, which is popularly called "Chinatown".Part of the race baiting during the 'red shirt' rally in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday, with a placard message attacking DAP's Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 20, 2015.

- TMI