Najib apologises, Ahmad to face the music

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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.

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jeff
jeff
8 Dec 2008 9.04am

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.

CH
CH
8 Sep 2008 9.33am

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…

Rakyat Jelata
Rakyat Jelata
7 Sep 2008 11.37am

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.

Rakyat Jelata
Rakyat Jelata
7 Sep 2008 11.33am

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.

Anak Pulau Pinang
Anak Pulau Pinang
6 Sep 2008 12.27am

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_……….. .

bangmalaysia
bangmalaysia
5 Sep 2008 2.25pm

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.

Justine
Justine
5 Sep 2008 11.54am

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

Renegade
Renegade
5 Sep 2008 11.16am

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.

LightBlue76
LightBlue76
5 Sep 2008 10.33am

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

veon
5 Sep 2008 1.21am
kl_wong
kl_wong
4 Sep 2008 6.31pm

This all racist remarks have to be stop once and for all from now on! All politicians must be strip off their Datukship, end their political career and dissappear from Malaysia if they do not stop this type of mentality. We have to start off with Ahmad. Be it BN or PR…..anyone insulting any Malaysian race, must be punish and must be a severe one!

🙂 then in future, no politicians will insult any race just to get popular.

chaptokam
chaptokam
4 Sep 2008 5.44pm

Ahmad Ismail the (alleged) PKR mole in UMNO? ———————————– On the issue why Badawi did not take action on Ahmad Ismail’s racist statement..!!I have this to say Why did Ahmad Ismail take that moment of time to say that ! Every wondered why ! Did it ever crossed your mind that he might be doing that to help his old nemesis Anwar Ibrahim ? That he could be contemplating of joining PKR ? … Don’t you think that by making that statement who actually benefits from that ? PKR or BN ? Its obvious isn’t it , that’s very important… Read more »

thepriest
thepriest
4 Sep 2008 4.36pm

Its not that the rayaat of Malays, chinese , indians, iban, kandazans the line goes on not willing to allow by gone be by gone or not forgive and forget… its the double standard of handling by the authority of the police and the government. what if others in the opposition parties or any normal citizen or EVEN ordinary members of UP-no who are disappoited voice such a statement….ISA ,OSA, all kind SA or may be a special squad to … you all know what i am going to write…

Ah Singh
Ah Singh
4 Sep 2008 11.05am

ini bapak ahmad ismail dari kampung kretek jakarta sentral la. dia punya jiran itu khir toyol! hidup java!

malaysian niah
malaysian niah
3 Sep 2008 11.15pm

Koh used a Malay proverb to summarise the Ahmad Ismail episode : ‘nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga,’ (a drop of blue dye spoils a pot of milk).

Susu belakang aku…. nila busuk sebelanga susu tak seberapa ade ler tuuuu mana ade susu… bodoh punya. patut lar kena keluar pulau mutiara …macem ler ingat dia tu susu…

china apek
china apek
3 Sep 2008 11.11pm

Get this from Malaysiakini on our Dr.Koh TK of the irrelevant Gerakan on this matter:

“Najib’s sincerity has helped to ease somewhat the anger and tension arising out of Ahmad Ismail’s insulting racist remark,” said Koh.

eerr… is he even reading news? This guys is BIGGEST …. UMNO B… CARRIER and APPLE POLISHER I HAVE EVER SEEN. ABSOLUTELY NO BLOODY DIGNITY FOR BEING CHINESE OR POLITICIAN … PENANG … you made the RIGHT CHOICE.

he is an **** **** … ya Princeton my ****.

Warga Negara
Warga Negara
3 Sep 2008 9.49pm

Please check out the contents of this website and decide for yourself if the apology was made in sincerity..

http://margeemar.blogspot.com/2008/09/real-reason-why-pm-badawi-doesnt-want.html

Leithaisor
Leithaisor
3 Sep 2008 6.45pm

lucia wrote “it is not fair or proper to bring up his ‘keris will be bathed.. ‘ remark.” because “that happened 21 years ago when he was still a youth. secondly if we can say that the umnoputers should not bring up anwar’s past dealings (esp. when he was a DPM), then to be fair we should not bring up najib’s too.” Yes, Najib’s bath the keris statement to the crowd was in 1987, but te fact is, has he ever acknowledged that it was wrong of him to have said/done what he said/did? No, never. Has he changed for… Read more »

Kenny Gan
Kenny Gan
3 Sep 2008 2.54pm

We can let bygones be bygones but will it be repeated? If no action is taken on the perpetrator, it will be repeated again and again.

Witness the never ending racial slurs uttered in Parliament… Because no action is taken, it’s only a matter of time before another racial slur is uttered.

IRWAN
IRWAN
3 Sep 2008 2.33pm

I can see all non-bumis are getting crazy about this issue. My only question is whether you yourself are recist or just taking advantage on this issue? All malaysia are racist but it’s just a matter how extreme you are….but still racist…I wonder how different this country will be if Chinese & Indian came here first before Malay…haha

donatelo
donatelo
3 Sep 2008 1.21pm

why only now apologise?..Think before u speak…

Joc_Penang
Joc_Penang
3 Sep 2008 1.17pm

Terima kasih Datuk Ahmad for showing your through colour. Look at the positive site guys, Ahmad’s racist statement came out of his UMNO save box to attract our fellow Malay voters, but they fail to understand that P.Pauh people are wise la & at the same time the statement triggered some sense to leaders of MIC & MCA, Gelakan, etc. Well what the F… are they doing in BN with this racist UMNO people. “Race & Religion is the opiate of any human being” said by a leader in olden days. You can use that and divide the people, you… Read more »

karma
karma
3 Sep 2008 12.40pm

The problem with some UMNO politicians is arrogance. They play the racial card to show that they champion the Malays. This is how they come to power. This arrogance has been very conspicuous for the past 10 to 15 years. With power comes arrogance. With power comes ‘do what we wish’ attitude. The people are now smart. There are alternative political parties for the Malays. If they are not happy with UMNO, they can join PAS or PKR. The trend is obvious now. UMNO will soon be left with only the heads. The people will go for the Opposition. The… Read more »

Kenny Gan
Kenny Gan
3 Sep 2008 12.21pm

According to Lim Kit Siang’s blog, Najib’s apology was blacked out in all the Malay mainstream papers and Bernama Malay edition did not carry the news.

So what is this apology worth? It’s only for the consumption of non-Malays while nothing is impressed on the Malay community that it is wrong to utter such racist slurs.

BN still thinks racial divide and rule is the way to go. When will they ever change? Perhaps a period of reflection as the opposition will change their views.

kittykat46
kittykat46
3 Sep 2008 12.20pm

Don’t get too excited.
The “apology” has been blacked out of the government-controlled Malay Language press.

So its not sincere.