Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
تياد سياڤا بوليه تريما ليم ڬوان اڠ
It is understandable that the DAP took a shot at federal to prove that it could govern the country better than Barisan Nasional. It is acceptable that they forged an alliance with a party led by former UMNO politicians to split the Malay vote in favour of Pakatan Harapan.
That’s politics.
But it was not acceptable that the DAP continued to rip the former Barisan Nasional administration apart even after 20 months of winning the 14thgeneral election. It was even more unacceptable that Lim Guan Eng practically turned the Ministry of Finance into the Ministry of 1MDB affairs when cases pertaining the fund were ongoing.
That’s bad leadership.
And it isn’t as if the junior Lim had not abused his power in ways that threatened to turn the Chinese against the Malay-Muslims.
Lim Guan Eng, in particular, was quick to associate every other issue raised by UMNO or PAS with racism and even accused the two parties of religious extremism. In Muar, Johor, he took things a step further by alleging that a back-door government led by Umno and PAS could lead to dire consequences for Malaysians, particularly the non-Malays and non-Muslims.
The junior Lim referred to this as an “unholy alliance,” insisting that it would lead to the fundamental rights of non-Muslims and non-Malays fundamental being extinguished. Lim even suggested that an UMNO-PAS administration could lead to a situation where non-Muslims would no longer be able to gather for religious prayers, making specific reference to people of the Christian faith.
That’s downright racist.
It’s racist, it’s anti-Islam, it’s anti-Malay, it’s anti-harmony and it’s anti-peace, just to name a few attributes that spell doom for national security. The political temperature was fast rising, and the Bukit Aman Special Branch Division was well aware of it. Had Lim been allowed to remain in government for another six months or so, I’m told, things would have boiled over.
It puzzles me how Lim actually thought his demeanor would not cost Pakatan Harapan federal power. While the DAP was superb with mudslinging campaigns to win the 14th General Election, its leaders simply didn’t know when or how to stop. When they finally got into government, the mudslinging went on.
Tell me, would one spend so much time mud-wrestling a defeated enemy when the name of the game should have been to prevent that enemy from rising? Would it not have been more prudent for the DAP to prove that it wasn’t as ‘bigoted’ as UMNO claimed it was by ensuring that the Malay-Muslims felt comfortable with its presence?
Seriously, why in the world did AMANAH and the DAP focus on transferring Malay-Muslim assets from Tabung Haji to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the Chinese controlled Ministry of Finance? Did Guan Eng actually think that the Muslims would be happy about it? Why risk jeopardizing Pakatan Harapan months after forming government when the name of the game should have been “to gain the confidence of the Malays?”
I think the DAP placed too much trust in its strategist, thinking, “if he could get us this far, he can get us further.” I think it had something to do with “showing the Malay-Muslims who is boss.” I wouldn’t be surprised, since the man who leads the party had the cheek to tell the Chinese that UMNO and PAS would not allow non-Muslims to “gather for religious prayers.”
Perhaps Guan Eng simply wanted to place the Malay-Muslims under the heels of the Chinese. After all, why was he so easy on DAP members who passed all sorts of racist and religiously toned remarks at the expense of unity? Why did he not reprimand a fellow party member who likened the introduction of “khat calligraphy and jaws script” to “rubbing cow manure” on our faces?
Why, Guan Eng, why? Why are you such a bloody racist, why couldn’t you be an everyday, ordinary Malaysian who strives to bring the races together, not apart?
Why??
