US riots a lesson for all, including Malaysia - Anwar

Malaysia can learn from what the widespread protests and riots in the United States resulting from racial discrimination, said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

The opposition chief said the current situation in the US following the case of George Floyd, an African American who died in the process of being arrested by the police in Minneapolis, has shown the root of the problem.

"This is not a new thing. What had caused the anger was narrow racial understanding, racial insults, and intimidation against the blacks for hundreds of years," he added in a virtual talk session on Facebook this afternoon.

Anwar said what Malaysians can learn from this incident is that racism affects everyone.

This is the reason religions stand firm against racial discrimination, he added, quoting British historian Arnold J Toynbee.

"We must understand that the cause of this problem is the attitude of racial discrimination, hatred towards other races, insults towards black people, and oppression on them.

"The consequences, as have been evident, is that every month there are cases of murders, insults, and discrimination that happens across America.

"And this resulted in protests, which mainly were done peacefully but some had seen unlawful actions due to the people's outrage," he said.

Gov't should introduce a moratorium on house rental

Meanwhile, Anwar also touched on the financial problems faced by Malaysians following the Covid-19 pandemic and movement control order (MCO). 

The PKR president, who was joined by Jason Ong and Shukri Mat, zoomed into the problem of house tenants who are unable to pay rent.

Ong is Penang state assemblyperson for Kebun Bunga while Shukri is a religious preacher who lost his income due to the MCO.

Anwar suggested for the government to introduce a moratorium on house rentals to help tenants struggling to make ends meet.

Agreeing with this, Ong said assistance should also be provided to landlords, especially those who still have to service their housing loans.

"We need to have a logical law that would help not only help tenants but also their landlords. Like what Datuk Seri Anwar suggested, there needs to be a mechanism like a moratorium.

"But in the context of rental payment, there are also landlords who still need to service their monthly installments with the bank.

"So if we ask for a rent moratorium, this will also affect the landlords. In this context, they also need the government to assist them through a stimulus package," he added. - Mkini