PETALING JAYA: DAP today fired a salvo against Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Shahidan Kassim, for accusing the Chinese of having a racist mindset.
“The Chinese community voted for PAS not because it is a Chinese party. Obviously, they did not also pick Anwar Ibrahim as their choice for prime minister because he is a Chinese.
“They picked him because they see Anwar as Malaysian first, who will fight abuse of power and prioritise the interest of the downtrodden, regardless of race, religion or creed,” said DAP publicity chief Tony Pua (photo).
Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported Shahidan as saying that the Chinese should break away from the racist mindset, allegedly inculcated by the opposition and integrate with other races.
“If the Chinese are willing to cross racial boundaries and integrate with Malaysian society, and practise power sharing, I believe Malaysia would one day have a prime minister of Chinese ethnicity,” said Shahidan.
Pua said that Pakatan Rakyat, particularly DAP, had never campaigned on a Chinese political platform and had never stood against Malay political interest.
He also said if DAP did campaign on a racist platform, the pro-establishment media would have televised the matter widely as “proof” of the party’s racist agenda.
“But our platform had always been on the idea of creating a country that is free from corruption and cronyism, where the nation’s wealth can be shared among all Malaysians, and not just those who are politically connected,” said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.
Umno dividing the nation
Pua added that the Chinese community has no problems seeing anyone holding the premiership, as long as the person serves as a prime minister for all, not just for a select group of cronies.
Training his guns at Shahidan, Pua said that no Umno leader had accused the Chinese of being racist when they voted overwhelmingly for MCA in the past.
“When Malays vote overwhelmingly for Umno last time, it is never racism. When Chinese voted for MCA in the past, it was not racism.
“But when Malays increased their support for Pakatan Rakyat candidate, Umno accused DAP of spreading propaganda that influenced educated Malays.
“And when the Chinese voted strongly for the opposition, it is proof of Chinese racism. It is nothing but utter gibberish coming from Umno leaders,” said Pua.
The DAP leader urged Umno leaders to stop dividing the nation along racial lines just to scare the Malays by accusing the Chinese of being a power hungry community.
“Umno leaders must realise that the only way for them to remain in power is to adopt Malaysian first concept, as per their own 1Malaysia slogan,” said Pua.
