GE15 | Pakatan Harapan candidate for Ayer Hitam Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali urged those in BN to refrain from making racial attacks or using racial slurs.
This comes after he was purportedly called a racial slur by Malay BN supporters outside the nomination centre in Ayer Hitam yesterday morning.
The slur implied he was subservient to the Chinese.
“I am truly disappointed by the confusing racial approach by BN supporters in Ayer Hitam during the nomination process this morning.
“They shouted to my face, ‘you are a Chinese dog’. I reprimanded them softly, ‘don’t play up racial issues, brother. You say I am a Chinese dog, but do you realise whose name is written on your shirt?’” Sheikh Umar (above) said in a post on Facebook last night.
The post included a picture of a group of men dressed in BN blue, carrying BN flags. The name of BN’s Ayer Hitam candidate Wee Ka Siong was written on their shirts.
Sheikh Umar is contesting in Ayer Hitam under DAP’s ticket against the incumbent Wee, who is also the MCA president.
He questioned sarcastically if the BN supporters who shouted at him would have been pleased if he retorted that Umno Malays have become “MCA Chinese dogs” in Ayer Hitam.
“I have gone everywhere. I go for fundraising dinners and ceramah attended by many Chinese people. A large part of them all congratulated me and hope I can defeat Wee in Ayer Hitam.
“Many of the Chinese have rejected (Wee) but they say it is Malay voters who have saved the MCA president.
“And then you’re calling me the Chinese dog? Come on, lah,” he said.
‘Fight corruption, not any race’
There is no need to play up racial issues for political interests as everyone is Malaysian, Sheikh Umar said, adding that the differences between the races are what makes us strong.
Those in Pakatan Harapan respect all the races in the country, he added.
“We fight corruption, not any race or religion. In Harapan, no one is anyone’s dog. We respect each other,” Sheikh Umar said.
Aside from him and Wee, the other candidate in Ayer Hitam is Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Muhammad Syafiq A Aziz.
In the last election, Wee narrowly won Ayer Hitam with a slim 303-vote majority and 44 percent of the ballots.
At that time, he was up against DAP’s Liew Chin Tong, who came in a close second with 43.2 percent of votes, while PAS bagged 12.8 percent. - Mkini
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