PETALING JAYA: The racially charged remarks being uttered by MCA President Liow Tiong Lai about DAP as well as his calling for the Barisan Nasional Council to hold a meeting regarding the racial elements of the Bersih 4 rally is both shocking and irresponsible, said DAP’s Teresa Kok.
In a statement today, the MP for Seputeh condemned Liow, who is also Transport Minister, for stoking racial fires and said that MCA was “totally out of touch with public sentiment” and had become increasingly more “irrelevant” in the eyes of the Chinese community.
Topping off his list of irresponsible statements however, she said, was Liow accusing DAP of hijacking the Bersih 4 rally and spreading racial hatred.
She added, “…for Liow Tiong Lai to make the malicious, dangerous and baseless accusation that DAP has hijacked the Bersih rally, and had spread racial hatred are just too shocking and utterly irresponsible. He deserves to be condemned for making such remarks.”
Teresa, who is also DAP’s National Vice-Chairperson, said Liow knew just like everybody else, that the picture-stomping incident was an isolated case that had nothing whatsoever to do with her party. She also said it was beyond the organiser’s control.
“Yet why was he so irresponsible to want to manipulate and magnify the incident and claim that race relations were tense after the rally and stress on the need for a supreme council meeting to be held as soon as possible to discuss possible remedies?”
She pointed out that those creating racial tension were not DAP but individuals such as Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Mohd Razlan Rafii, who called on the Malays to take to the streets against the Chinese.
“While Mohd Razlan is attacking the Chinese, Liow is attacking the DAP,” she said, pointing out the irony and saying that the MCA president should have told the former that Bersih 4 rally goers were merely exercising their democratic right to demand changes for a better Malaysia for everybody.
“If Liow does not dare to rebut Razlan or any extremist group who are using the Bersih 4 rally to unfairly attack the Chinese, he should at least keep silent and not play along with their racial line by attacking the DAP.”