Ti backs down, now blames Umno race baiting on ex-leaders

While last week he was asking Umno to change its race baiting ways and emulate former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's footsteps, MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker has now changed his tune and put the blame squarely on ex-Umno "race extremists".

Ti first sparked an extended verbal spat with Umno supreme council Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz when the former urged Umno to stop playing "jaguh kampung" (village hero) to the rural voters for its own survival, at the expense of the rest of the BN.

After scathing criticism from Nazri, who today called Ti "arrogant" and needed to be "disciplined", the MCA leader has appeared to have retreated, praising Prime Minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia.

"Now that the ultra-Malays who destroyed Tunku Abdul Rahman's Alliance are out of BN and in Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), BN leadership must SEIZE this opportunity to navigate BN to its rightful 1Malaysia course or the spirit of the Alliance’s founding years of Tunku Abdul Rahman," said Ti in a conciliatory statement today.

He was referring to Mahathir's Malay Dilemma days, former Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin’s "I am Malay first" stand and "political Islam Anwar Ibrahim" as now the prime culprits behind the "extremism and fanaticism that they have cultivated in BN".

Waxing lyrical about the wonderful Alliance days and squeezing in reference to MCA's traditional foe DAP, Ti said, "The BN leadership should be happy to be rid of any extremists or ultras at this juncture.

"We should be happy that these rotten apples are now in DAP's baskets."

Last week Ti wrote, "If Mahathir can be Machiavellian enough to re-embrace Anwar Ibrahim in a game changer, why not Umno?

"Gone were the days where Umno can step or pick on minorities to display their strength and as a clarion call for Malays or Muslims to unite or stay together against the others," he had said.

His statements riled Nazri, who taunted MCA's lack of voter support and said it should consider leaving BN.

Downplaying the spat today, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said perhaps Nazri did not "fully listen" to what MCA had said. - Mkini