What a waste of time, energy on unproductive racial, religious bigotry

 No News Is Bad News

What a waste of time, energy on unproductive racial, religious bigotry

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10, 2023: Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahim says he is disappointed that racial sentiments are given centre stage.

“I cannot understand why, in 2023, we are stuck (talking about) this. We are not talking about governance or economic advancement or digital technology. We are stuck about whose country or whether this country belongs to the Malays, Chinese, Christians.

“I mean, how do you ensure that this country survives as a nation once protecting the rights of the Malays. You want to insist that this is a purely Malay country and deny the rights of others?

“The federal constitution is very clear on the position of the Malays, but it is also clear on protecting the welfare of all citizens and the future for all Malaysians,” he added.

Like what No News Is Bad News had regularly posted, Anwar is absolutely right.

Why are politicians wasting time politicking and spewing racial and religious bigotry when they should be helping to contribute to healing the country’s economy.

That is the urgency because Malaysia’s national debt of more than RM1.5 trillion is causing socio-economic woes to the rakyat dan negara (people and country).

And the humongous national debt is no thanks to previous governments of the day and their leaders.

The very same leaders are not resorting to racial and religious bigotry to destroy national unity among Malaysians aimed at toppling Anwar’s Unity Government (UG).

Malaysians going to the polls in six states - Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu - should, therefore, think of national unity and harmony to help the UG forward Malaysia towards greater economic heights.

No News Is Bad News reproduces below a report on what Anwar was reported to have said:

MALAYSIA

[UPDATED] Anwar dismisses Dr Mahathir’s racial remarks, questions latter’s relevance

PM says ex-mentor trying to remain relevant after losing deposit in Langkawi during GE15

Updated 22 minutes ago · Published on 10 Jul 2023 1:09PM

Asked about his former mentor’s recent remarks against multiculturalism in Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was trying to stay relevant, but that he ought to be made irrelevant. – The Vibes pic, July 10, 2023

 

BY Shahrim Tamrin

KUALA LUMPUR – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s views on race and the federal constitution should not be taken seriously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.

Asked about his former mentor’s recent remarks against multiculturalism in Malaysia, Anwar said Dr Mahathir was trying to stay relevant, but that he ought to be made irrelevant.

“The ex-PM lost his deposit in Langkawi, I don’t think we should take him very seriously. Of course, his purpose is his last attempt to be seen (as) relevant.

“I am going to make him irrelevant. I am not going to going to comment on it. We have to stay the course,” Anwar said during a question-and-answer session at the International Malaysia Law Conference 2023 this morning.

Anwar also said that this was Dr Mahathir’s “last desperate attempt to be seen as relevant”.

The prime minister was responding to the questions raised by former Bar Council president Christopher Leong, who was moderating the question-and-answer session.

On July 3, Dr Mahathir claimed on Facebook that Malaysia’s constitution never stated the country as multiracial, asserting that it was against the constitution to promote a multiracial country.

Since then, the former two-time prime minister has written more posts on social media to defend his views from criticism, reiterating his position that Malaysia belonged to the Malays, and that the “Malaysian Malaysia” agenda advanced by DAP was aimed at turning the country into a multicultural one to the detriment of the Malays.

Anwar today said he was disappointed that these racial sentiments were given centre stage.

“I can’t understand why, in 2023, we are stuck (talking about) this. We are not talking about governance or economic advancement or digital technology. We are stuck about whose country or whether this country belongs to the Malays, Chinese, Christians.

“I mean, how do you make sure that this country survives as a nation once protecting the rights of the Malays. You want to insist that this is a purely Malay country and deny the rights of others?”

He said the federal constitution is very clear on the position of the Malays, but it was also clear on protecting the welfare of all citizens and the future for all Malaysians.

Anwar said he would not be surprised that with six state elections around the corner, his remarks today at the law conference would be taken out of context by the opposition.

“By saying this, it will be exploited by PAS and Bersatu. They will say ‘Look! Anwar at the Bar Council conference said this is not a Malay country’.

“But that does not matter. We will continue, we will use all the powers and resources that we have to deal with this situation. If we fail in this narrative, we fail in this discourse, we fail as a nation.” – The Vibes, July 10, 2023