Deputy National Unity Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal should not drag DAP into his “divisive” rhetoric about racial sentiments, said DAP Youth chief Kelvin Yii.
This comes after Wan Fayhsal had yesterday said the communal protector mentality is not unique to the Malays only, and that the Chinese community votes for DAP as they see it as a protector of Chinese interests.
“(Wan Fayhsal) shouldn’t be dragging DAP in as an attempt to justify his narrow political viewpoint when the fundamentals and values of DAP are a total contrast from what he and his party stands for.
“Rather than trying to be an ethnic champion of any particular race, we (DAP) are more focused on issues such as ensuring better jobs for all Malaysians, establishing a robust safety net to protect the people and providing top quality social services in terms of healthcare and education,” Yii said in a statement posted on his social media today.
He said the Bersatu Youth chief was trying to position the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition as the protector of the Malay community but that he had hidden the fact that PN failed to shield the community from skyrocketing living costs, depressed take-home pay and unemployment.
“That is why maybe what we Malaysians need protection from is people like him whose mindset and viewpoints are contrary to what the country needs moving forward,” Yii said.
Divisive racial sentiments
It is unbecoming for the national unity deputy minister to continue to play up such divisive racial sentiments and frame the political sphere with an outdated and narrow viewpoint of “racial protectionism”, he added.
The ironic part is that while Wan Fayhsal claims to disagree with such identity politics, he still chooses to play it up and promote disunity, Yii said.
On the contrary, the deputy minister could have chosen to “take the brave step” of finding ways to mould a more mature and positive political culture to bring everyone together.
“This is what he as the deputy minister of unity should have been doing in the first place, and as a youth leader, he should be promoting new and constructive politics rather than affirming and reinforcing old politics of communal division,” Yii said.
It was reported a few days ago that Wan Fayhsal had said Malays are rejecting Pakatan Harapan due to its “full-blown” liberal democratic nature, as the Malay community needs to be protected by those who share similar identity politics.
“The Malays need a protector. They have a neo-feudal mentality and are not ready to embrace a full-blown liberal democracy yet,” he had said.
Following brickbats due to those comments, Wan Fayhsal clarified that he is not in favour of the neo-feudal mentality among Malays, and that he was merely stating a fact. - Mkini
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