Of course, any visit to Kelantan makes a politician a bit more religious in his outlook. Datuk Seri Najib Razak is no exception.
But Kelantan doesn’t make anyone less Malaysian or less inclusive.
Yet the prime minister chose to use his visit to Kelantan today to lash out at Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan in a very base way. The kind of attack one expects from others but not the political aristocracy that has given us two Umno presidents and two prime ministers.
“Who doesn’t know Ambiga. She’s the one who threatened Islam. And below her is Mat Sabu,” Najib told a 20,000-strong crowd here, referring to the Bersih chief who once took up a case involving the faith and the new PAS deputy president Mohamed Sabu.
The prime minister’s remarks were carried by Radio Malaysia news at 1pm. The station also played public service clips against the rally and praising the prime minister as leader of all Malaysians.
What happened to duelling over policy and issues that matter rather than dwelling on personalities?
Why go down this low road of talking about people rather than confront the issue?
Such methods are more suited for the likes of Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali. The only difference today is that the Umno president is a lot more eloquent.
His attack betrays the ideals he has espoused in 1 Malaysia, of a united country where economic and social reforms will make us a developed nation by 2020.
What use is all these potential wealth and unity when we talk about people in such a derisory tone? It might be a crowd of Muslims in Kelantan but that doesn’t mean one should put down a person as an enemy of the faith.
This country is secular. This country tells the world it’s polite, that Malaysia is truly Asia.
But our prime minister today showed an unpleasant side of stooping so low to make a personal attack. A side that betrays his own ideals and casts a shadow on our international image.
What a pity. He was doing so well to charm Malaysians to support his government and its policies.
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