By framing the still-growing derision towards Najib's “kangkung” statement into a racial issue, Penang Umno also hoped to regain lost momentum and stem the political fallout from the Prime Minister’s remarks, they said.
Penang Umno’s aggressive response also seemed to reflect its continued tilt towards extremist tendencies as seen in all its provocative protests against the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Penang government since 2008, they added.
“It reflects the lack of ideas within Umno and how when it lacks ideas, it falls back on extremist tactics such as the cow’s protest (in Selangor) and giving birthday cakes filled with excrement (in Penang)," said PKR supreme council member Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
In 2009, a group of men carried and stomped on a severed cow’s head in front of the Selangor government headquarters to protest the relocation of a Hindu temple to their area in Shah Alam.
The same year, a separate group of men presented birthday cakes decorated with replicas of human faeces to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on the anniversary of the Penang government.
Pakatan has accused both groups of being backed by their respective Umno state bodies.
On Saturday, Penang Umno members held a protest in Seberang Jaya, Penang, carrying placards threatening another May 13-style riot if Pakatan continued to criticise Najib’s now famous kangkung speech.
Some of the placards also said that to insult Najib was to insult Malay Muslims.
The Penang Umno protest was in response to a flash mob by Machang Bubuk assemblyman Lee Khai Loon on January 15 which lampooned Najib’s kangkung remark.
PAS information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar said Penang Umno’s message is meant to give the false impression that criticism towards Umno was only from non-Malays.
“Malay Muslims who had supported Umno during the last general election are also angry with Najib. This is not a racial issue at all.”
Mahfuz’s claims are borne out by the fact that much of the anger in cyberspace directed at Najib’s kangkung statement when it appeared on January 12, was in Bahasa Malaysia from Malay commentators.
“Malay Muslims are angry that we are being treated as if we are rabbits,” said Mahfuz, referring to an oft-repeated criticism that the kangkung remark showed that the Najib administration is out of touch with the hardship faced by ordinary Malaysians.
During a recent speech, Najib had lamented that the government was blamed whenever the prices of goods go up but never when they do down. He then said the price of kangkung (water spinach) had dropped and asked whether Malaysians were going to commend the government.
Najib’s remark struck a raw nerve with a public reeling from higher prices of petrol, sugar and public transport and the expected rise in highway toll rates.
Furious netizens took to creating memes to show that Najib thinks ordinary Malaysians can live off cheap kangkung.
Political scientist Prof Datuk Shamsul Amry Baharudin cautioned against taking Penang Umno’s threats of racial strife seriously, saying that it was more chest-thumping than an actual threat.
Penang Umno’s tactics while distasteful, represent a minority within the party, he said.
“Penang Umno is insecure and this is the politics of the insecure. They don’t care about whether they gain support or not.
“It is distasteful and Malaysian politicians should be above it. It is as if Penang Umno has no good ideas at all.
“But they are not serious. In the age of ‘selfies’, these people want to be ‘selfie heroes’,” said Shamsul Amry, who is with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
By Sheridan Mahavera
No comments:
Post a Comment