The MCMC is a regulatory body under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, led by the DAP’s own Gobind Singh Deo.
It is an open secret that Gobind has a big say in who gets investigated and who doesn’t for content touching on race, religion and royalty (3R).
So why didn’t Kit Siang or Syahredzan, who demanded that the MCMC raise the threshold for action against people posting such content, iron things out with Gobind prior to the MCMC’s announcement?
Was Syahredzan’s statement a ploy to impress upon people that the DAP has no control over what Gobind does or does not do?
Is the DAP planning to use the MCMC to silence critics so that people like Nga Kor Ming can continue to utter racially and religiously toned statements with no holds barred?
PETALING JAYA: Racially toned criticism against the DAP is admittedly on the rise, though the ones to blame aren’t those who criticise the party.
On contraire, the party leaders themselves need to own up to their misgivings, as it is they who go on record issuing racially and religiously divisive statements that seem aimed at angering the Malay-Muslims.
From Nga Kor Ming’s “pukimak Melayu” to Lim Lip Eng’s “introducing khat is akin to rubbing cow manure on our faces,” the party has never been short on slurs and utters them first before issuing apologies.
By then, the damage is done.
This has happened a countless number of times, with the party even engaging in disinformation campaigns that appear designed to pit the Chinese against the Malay-Muslims.
The campaign to censure government over the use of “Allah” is one example. Criticism against PAS and Dato’ Seri Haji Abdul Hadi Awang for wanting to expand the jurisdiction of the Islamic bench is another.
In all cases, the DAP portrays Muslims in Malaysia as a breed attempting to Islamise education and other “aspects of natural life” which is precisely what Kit Siang used to tell public university forums back in the eighties.
In the case of Hadi, the impression given was that PAS wanted to subject non-Muslims to Hudud law even though the Federal Constitution of Malaysia is crystal clear regarding the religious and legal rights of non-Muslims.
So it is a little more than suspect that Kit Siang’s own political secretary demanded that the threshold for investigations into offensive social media comments on race, religion or the royalty be made high and reserved only for those inciting violence or hate speech.
Earlier today, lawyer Syahredzan Johan posted in Twitter that the authorities cannot launch investigations or make arrests for assertions or postings merely deemed “offensive”.
“Hate speech on socmed and messenger services have become rampant. Something needs to be done,” he said.
One wonders if this is a ploy by Kit Siang to impress upon people that he is against persecution of activists who are critical against government or even the DAP.
This is considering that Syahredzan was referring to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) which happens to be a regulatory body under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, led by the DAP’s own Gobind Singh Deo.
It is an open secret that Gobind has a big say in who gets investigated and who doesn’t for content touching on race, religion and royalty (3R).
So why didn’t Kit Siang or Syahredzan iron things out with Gobind prior to the MCMC’s announcement regarding the 3R ‘menace’?
Was Syahredzan’s statement meant to impress upon people that the DAP has no control over what Gobind does or does not do?
Is the DAP planning to use the MCMC to silence critics so that people like Nga Kor Ming can continue to utter racially and religiously toned statements with no questions asked?
THE THIRD FORCE
