Resorting to name calling is immature, DAP’s Yii tells Akmal

 

DAP Youth leader Dr Kelvin Yii said Dr Akmal Saleh should ‘rebut a policy with policy, proposals with better proposals, discourse with mature discourse’.

PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth leader Dr Akmal Saleh has been urged by his DAP counterpart not to resort to name calling after Akmal branded a minister “stupid” for linking boycotts to the economic hardship endured by a married couple.

DAP Youth leader Dr Kelvin Yii said Akmal, as a young leader, should set a good example instead of displaying his immaturity when disagreeing with a federal minister.

Malaysian politicians should not resort to name-calling or mud-slinging which he said had degraded the current state of the nation’s political discourse. Akmal should “rebut a policy with policy, proposals with better proposals, discourse with mature discourse”, Yii said.

“Whether we agree or not with the action or statement that was said, as a young leader, he should have brought proper and mature arguments to the table either to refute the statement or to add constructive criticism to the issue at hand,” said Yii in a statement.

Earlier today, Akmal, who called for a boycott of KK Mart over socks bearing the word “Allah”, criticised DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming for attempting to blame the hardship faced by a married couple on those pushing for boycotts.

He wondered if Nga was trying to hold such initiatives responsible for the current state of the economy. He said it was “stupid” ministers like Nga who were the reason why the economy is in bad shape. Nga is the minister for housing and local government.

Separately, a former DAP assemblyman, P Ramasamy, proposed that Nga challenge Akmal to a debate on the implications of the boycott on the economy. However, he wondered if Nga was prepared to take on a “paper tiger” like Akmal. - FMT