A Facebook post featuring an AI-generated image of Chinese Johor DAP women leaders wearing headscarves has sparked outrage among party leaders, who accused critics of implying that DAP is abandoning the Chinese community to win over Malay-Muslim voters.
The controversy deepened after a former Johor councillor linked to MCA was found to have shared the image. DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke condemned the post as part of a “dirty game” allegedly orchestrated by the BN component party.
“This is an outdated tactic that I think the people will reject - (the post) attempted to depict DAP (as a party) which has sold its principles and dignity, (but) we are a party that has continued to play our role as a multiracial platform.
“This is DAP’s consistent stand - we will not bow down to any quarters. If they want to play with tactics like this, we will reveal their dirty game,” the transport minister told reporters in Johor Jaya today.
Loke, who is also the Seremban MP, pointed out that certain parties have always tried to paint DAP in a bad light through fearmongering targeted at different communities.
“Among the Chinese, MCA’s tactic is to imply that DAP has now turned all Chinese women into Malays (who) wear the tudung as part of efforts to scare the Chinese community.
“Among the Malays, however, there are also those who say DAP is anti-Islam,” Loke said, stressing that DAP is a “pro-rakyat” party that does not discriminate on the basis of race or religion.
Echoing the criticism yesterday, DAP’s Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan described the former Pontian Municipal Council member’s actions as “absolutely disgusting and vile”, accusing him of portraying DAP as “selling out” Chinese interests for Malay support.
He said the post was also offensive to Muslims, arguing that the tudung should not be used as “political ammunition” or to “mock opponents”.
“Are MCA members so desperate for Chinese votes in Johor that they are willing to stoop this low?” he asked on Facebook today.
Screenshots circulating online alleged the individual to be an MCA-linked former Pontian Municipal Council member.
Checks by Malaysiakini today found that his name was absent from the council’s online directory. A poster shared on social media listed him as a councillor for the 2016-2017 term, while the Facebook post at the centre of the controversy has since been deleted.
Malaysiakini has sought comments from several MCA leaders since yesterday, but has yet to receive a response.
Headscarf strategy may have backfired
Amid the dispute, DAP’s former Skudai assemblyperson Dr Boo Cheng Hau cautioned the party not to “over-appease” any ethnic group and instead focus on serving the people, arguing that the party should rise above racial and religious controversies.
He said instances of non-Muslim DAP women wearing headscarves to shed the party’s perceived “anti-Malay” image appeared to have backfired, leaving it open to criticism from both Malays and non-Malays.
Being “over-defensive” in an attempt to shed one’s own identity has never been an effective strategy, he argued.
“Now, at least in Johor, Malay-Muslims feel that their religion has been mocked as a political tool by the non-Malay majority DAP, and on the other hand, non-Malays feel that DAP is hypocritical in their struggles with wavering stands.
“My stand and strategy have been clear: be our very true self as a social democratic party and provide an effective narrative countering the religious fanaticisms, rather than being affected by their radically conservative narratives.
“In other words, just serve the people in our own ways,” Boo wrote on Facebook today. - Mkini
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