If you think the Sikh community is easy meat and you can insult their sacred headgear while hiding behind the British law, you are digging your own grave. Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), the owner of Malaysia Today portal, has found out that unlike the minority Chinese community whom he has been insulting and mocking, the minority Sikh community has little patience for such game.
RPK, the fugitive blogger who had fled his home country Malaysia for Britain, has finally apologised to the Sikh community following his racist remark regarding their “turban” – a headgear held in sacred esteem by the Sikhs. Currently residing in Manchester, UK, RPK picked the wrong guy to bully when he insulted Amar Singh’s professionalism – and his turban.
Mr. Amar Singh became the first Sikh officer to take up the Kuala Lumpur Police Chief post in 2016, an honour for the minority race in Malaysia. About 17 months later, he was promoted as the federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Director Commissioner. But his unexpected international fame catapulted as a result of the high-profile investigation into 1MDB scandal.
The fearless police officer led a series of raids that combed through luxury condominiums in downtown Kuala Lumpur and the private residence of former Prime Minister Najib Razak. He was at the centre of international attention when the police revealed the total value of cash, jewellery, luxury watches and handbags from premises linked to Najib stood at a whopping market value of RM1.1 billion.
His no-nonsense earned him the tagline “Singh Is King” among netizens. Many have even suggested that the Singh be made the next police chief – IGP (Inspector General of Police). However, as Najib’s top-paid blogger, Raja Petra wasn’t impressed with Amar Singh’s revelation of such massive valuables as it paints his political master – Najib – as the world’s biggest crook.
After spreading fake news that Malaysia richest man, billionaire Robert Kuok, was sponsoring opposition parties, only to remove three published articles upon being threatened with lawsuits by the Chinese tycoon, RPK probably thought he could bully a not-so-rich individual – Amar Singh. Perhaps he thought the 450,000 Sikhs are easier meat than the 6.7-million Chinese in the country.
A loose cannon, Raja Petra was also emboldened by the fact that Sultan Sharafuddin of Selangor happens to be his uncle. So, armed with certain percentage of royal blood and British law, the blogger dropped a bombshell last week, accusing the police force of stealing RM43.3 million in cash during raids linked to scandal-plagued Najib Razak.
Calling the member of Sultanate of Selangor as nothing but a mercenary writer, Amar Singh has denied the wild accusation that the police had helped themselves to the cash. Although Najib had lodged a report that some RM160 million was actually seized and not RM116.7 million as tallied by the authorities, the disgraced ex-premier could not substantiate the claims.
In fact, apart of accusing the police of stealing some chocolate bars, Mr. Najib was quick to clarify that neither he nor his party UMNO was accusing the police of stealing some of the cash seized from the luxury condominiums in Pavilion Residences. RPK, who snapped when Amar Singh advised him not to be a “lapdog” to anyone, had responded with an attack on the Singh’s turban.
RPK went berserk and published an article on Friday (Sept 26) – entitled “Amar Singh’s Turban Must Be Too Tight”. The long and short of the article suggested that Mr. Amar couldn’t think straight because the blood didn’t flow to the brain, an insult and ridicule that aren’t only “racist” but a declaration of war against the entire Sikh community on planet Earth.
The blogger had also suggested that the Singhs are untrustworthy, accusing that Amar Singh was as treacherous as Gandhi’s bodyguards. He twisted and spun his argument that like how Satwant Singh and Beant Singh had assassinated Indian Prime Minister Gandhi, Amar Singh now wants to “assassinate” Najib Razak after serving him for nine years.
Yes, Raja Petra Kamarudin had obviously underestimated the Sikhs’ prowess as he desperately tries to defend the indefensible Najib Razak. In his haste to protect Najib, he hadn’t a clue that there are more than 420,000 Sikhs in the United Kingdom. In his apology article to the Sikh community, he admits that police reports, not to mention threats, have been made against him.
Yet, despite his so-called apology, he continued to argue that his remark was not meant as an insult to Sikhism, nor was it his intention. He wrote – “I can argue that I did not consider my quip an insult to the Sikh faith or that this was not my intention. But it is not what I intended that matters but how what I said was received.”
Of course, to save face, the blogger insisted that his apology did not come because police reports have been lodged against him, or because he allegedly received threats due to his remark. He wrote – “I was told a Sikh’s turban is a very sacred item and they do not take too kindly to anyone making fun of it. For that I would like to sincerely apologise.”
After living in Malaysia for decades before fleeing for England, did it make sense that a smart guy like RPK wasn’t aware how sacred a Sikh’s turban is? After all, the ungrateful mercenary writer has admitted that in the past, Gobind Singh Deo, Amarjit Sidhu, Manjeet Singh Dhillon and the late Karpal Singh had helped him got out of legal issues without any payment.
Make no mistake about it. RPK decided to apologise only after the Sikhs in UK are sharpening their knives for him. Based on some responses from the Sikh community unveiled by himself, the UK Sikh Press Association had been contacted to rally against the lone blogger. RPK was also cursed, even called “a motherfucker Muslim” by furious Sikhs.
Screenshots showed the royal-blood RPK received tons of calls that he dared not answer from Sikh community in Britain. There were also threats made against his wife and daughter Sara, suggesting that the Singhs were indeed incredibly mad at the blogger and if not contained, might lead to the closure of his restaurant and other unforeseen consequences.
RPK should be careful when he tries to bully the minorities. Just because the majority race can mock, insult and ridicule the minority races and get away in Malaysia, doesn’t mean the same minority race such as the Sikhs suffer the same fate in the West like the UK. As the minority, they are more united and definitely more lethal when threatened. And Sikh is certainly not a community you want to try your luck.
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Why cant PDRM issue a red notice to ask for Interpol to extradite this rpk back to Malaysia.
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