It’s not often you get an apology from Najib, much less over racial remarks. But why isn’t Ahmad apologising? The next Supreme Council meeting will discuss what “appropriate action” to take against him. Don’t hold your breath. Anyway, this fiasco is not going to improve public support for the BN, is it?
Reading between the lines, the devastating impact on BN component parties must have been serious enough for Najib to come out and apologise.
This report from Bernama reproduced in The Star:
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno, the backbone of the ruling Barisan Nasional government, has issued a public apology over a remark made by Bukit Bendera Umno division head Datuk Ahmad Ismail during the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election last month.
“We hope that the non-Malays will not be too disturbed with the statement and we apologise if it has incurred the sensitivities or unhappiness over the statement.
“We apologise, Umno apologises although it is not our statement but it is a statement made by one of our division leaders. It is totally unwarranted and does not reflect the position and the attitude of Umno or the leadership of Umno. We regret it very much,” Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Umno deputy president, said here on Tuesday.
In the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election, Ahmad had said at a ceramah that the Chinese community were mere “immigrants” in the country and thus were not entitled to be given equal rights in Malaysia.
Contrast that with this article from Malaysian Insider and you will understand why the BN has lost so much support, even if some Malaysians may not really like Anwar:
AUG 29 — As the Permatang Pauh by-election fades into the recesses of our memories, there is talk of it being a turning point in our country’s history. Unfortunately, this talk habitually and routinely focuses on the possibility of changing the government by Sept 16.
It ignores a simple reality: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has already made history by being the first Malay politician to ever actually win more political support through an explicitly non-racial platform. It is practically impossible to underestimate how Anwar bucked the trend; he has completely turned our understanding of politics in this country on its head.
History has already made it crystal-clear; Malay politicians who try to unite the country by appealing to a common sense of Malaysian-ness inevitably wind up heading into political oblivion. Dato Onn Ja’afar’s political career went up in flames the moment he founded the first multiracial political party in the country, in spite of it having every conceivable advantage — it was literally the incumbent party of the time because of Onn’s towering status in Malayan politics. And it, of course, foundered completely.
Loading ...
Ahmad said today no apology.So, what now?
http://veonszu.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/ahmad-ismail-sorry-no-apology/
chaptokam on September 4th, 2008 at 5.44pm
Ahmad Ismail the (alleged) PKR mole in UMNO?
I would disagree with chaptokam. I hope that Pakatan Rakyat will not accept people such as Ahmad Ismail. This racist is an obstacle in the Rakyat’s path toward a Malaysian Malaysia. The Rakyat will always reject racists, no matter which party they are from. This include Zulkifli Nordin of the PKR.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
There is no place for a RACIST in this multi racial country. He should be kiced out of UMNO immediately. The kick should be so hard, the he, En. Ahmad Ismail should end up somewhere in the middle of the Amazon jungle, so that he can practice his racism with the inhabitants there.
Hidup Cara MUHIBBAH.
Dear Anil,
Heard from some old folks that many moons ago, a former MCA minister, Lee Kim Sai who uttered the same thing about Malays being pendatang from Indonesia (in retort to the same sedition issue as above) was stripped of his datukship. Appreciate if you can verify if this is true and look forward to your findings.
Sincerely
Justine
Anil,
Uncle Kit recently exposed Biro Tatanegara (BTN)racist indoctrination programme which every government scholar, civil servant, PTD officers etc has to undergo. Uncle Kit also has called the government to disband this hateful and despicable racist programmes by them.
This hate programmes are particularly undermining the objectives of Bangsa Malaysia. See:
http://bangmalaysia.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/btn-a-trojan-horse-subverting-objectives-of-bangsa-malaysia/
Anil, I do your assistance and the assistance of all bloggers to assist in putting a stop to this nonsense once and for all.
Thanks.
Ahmad to apologise – Bloody Wishful thinking.
Najis apologised??? Heheheh, what a laugh, this (the apology) is so much easier than the sumpah on the Koran that he never knew/touched/s****eed a descndant of Jenghiz Khan.
Anyway, Ahmad has come forward to stick his middle finger to all Malaysians including his President and Deputy President. That man ain’t gonna apologise man – say more and_……….. .
Ini adalah amat jelas sekali perlaksanaan dwi-piawai (Double Standard) oleh BN.
Adakah Dato Ahmad Ismail berhak bercakap apa saja oleh sebab beliau ahli UMNO?
Adakah ini merupakan satu lagi “Keistimewaan” kepada ahli UMNO?
Semua rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira bangsa dan latar belakang harus bangkit membantah sekeras-kerasnya percakapan Ahmad Ismail & pemimpin UMNO yang tidak bertindak.
Rakyat menyeru supaya bebaskan tokoh Hindaf ataupun penjarakan Dato Ahmad Ismail sama sekali.
P/s : BTW, I am still waiting if anyone could put up any recording of what this jerk had actually said so that all Malaysian can the judge.
To Begin with….
Parameswara who established the Malacca Sultanate was a migrant from Indonesia.
Today, the Sultan & royalties of Perak are all his descendants.
The Indonesian’s Bugis immigrated & rule Selangor.
The Indonesian’s Minangkabau immigrated & rule N.Sembilan.
It is obvious that everyone came from somewhere sometime in the past, not just the Chinese & Indian.
But today, we are all MALAYSIAN.
So please stop talking & emphasizing on the Chinese & Indian as immigrant.
All Malaysian deserve to be treated equally.
Dear Ahmad Ismail, once again you have shown the world… Without all other non-malay races in malaysia supporting and helping the country economy along years, … sure hampus 2 minutes right after the merdeka at 1957. I wonder if you still got the chance to whinge…
Instead of charging this racist member for inciting violence against Chinese and Indian Malaysians under seditious act, he is hoping all Malaysians will forget about it, show that he is a weak leader.