Dato’ Michael Lee Beng Seng
MCA Youth Penang applauds Polis di-Raja Malaysia (PDRM) decision to arrest Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) Islamic Affairs officer Zamihan Mat Zain and probe him for sedition for insulting His Majesty the Sultan of Johor.
Zamihan preached at a mosque in Shah Alam in a disdainful manner by deriding the Chinese community as “unhygienic” and who “did not wash after defecating and urinating,” justifying the operations of launderettes segregated along religious line.
By labelling the Chinese as “unhygienic,” is Zamihan even aware that there are Chinese in Malaysia who are Muslims, be they Muallafs, or born Muslims? He is thus insulting Malaysian Chinese Muslims as well as all Chinese Muslims throughout the world.
While Malaysian Chinese are rightly offended by Zamihan’s disparaging remarks, we must recognise that these are his personal slurs – an individual misdeed, not representative of the federal government or a religion or ethnicity.
Thus, it is unfortunate that supporters of the self-proclaimed Superman Hew Kuan Yau (who picked up on Zamihan’s preaching and posted it on his Facebook) appear to have turned the issue into an us-vs-them insult.
DAP must restrain its supporters from exacerbating this issue before it spirals out of hand and descends into a racial issue of Chinese versus Malays/Muslims.
The DAP should pay due respect to rulers as we must, at all times, be guided by their wisdom and foresight. The issue is about Zamihan’s support for religiously segregated launderettes and the misconception that Chinese live in filth.
There is also no need for Superman to use the term Islamic Sohai. Criticise the individual but don’t involve their religion.
It is about Zamihan, an individual’s tirade, and not about Islam or Malays or government officers. So when DAP supporters rant about “origins of their race,” this is uncalled for and makes them no different from Zamihan.
DAP must ban this individual from participating in any future DAP or Harapan events.
Michael is MCA’s Penang youth chairman and national youth treasurer
