Kampar MP Chong Zhemin (left) said MCA president Wee Ka Siong and the rest of his leadership have remained silent over PN election director Sanusi Nor's controversial remarks. PETALING JAYA: A DAP MP has criticised MCA for not speaking up against Perikatan Nasional election director Sanusi Nor for suggesting that different ethnic groups in Malaysia can fall back on ancestral homelands outside the country.Describing the remarks as an insult to non-Malays, Kampar MP Chong Zhemin pointed out that MIC president SA Vigneswaran had criticised Sanusi, despite Barisan Nasional’s pact with PN for the Negeri Sembilan state election.“Yet MCA president Wee Ka Siong and the rest of the MCA leadership remain conspicuously silent. Where is Wee’s voice when Malaysian Chinese are told that China is supposedly their country?“Where is MCA’s courage when its own political partner treats millions of Malaysian citizens as though they are merely guests who can fall back on another country?“MCA claims it represents and defends the Chinese community, but when Sanusi openly insults the loyalty and belonging of Malaysian Chinese at a joint BN-PN rally, MCA suddenly loses its voice,” he said in a statement.He said this was a test of MCA’s principles amid BN’s pact with PN, and failure to speak up showed the party was subservient to PN, particularly PAS, for the sake of electoral gains.Chong also said Sanusi's remarks and other similar rhetoric must not be condoned.“Vigneswaran has shown that a BN component leader can speak clearly and firmly.
He has even called on BN to review its electoral cooperation with PN.“Malaysia is our only country. Malaysian Chinese and Indians are not foreigners, temporary residents or guests in the land of their birth,” he said.After Sanusi said on Thursday night that “Tanah Melayu” was the only homeland for the Malays, unlike other ethnic groups, Chong led calls for the Kedah menteri besar to be investigated over his remarks.Last night, Vigneswaran slammed Sanusi for his remarks and urged BN to review its electoral alliance with PN, with a view of contesting future state elections on its own.P Punithan, president of PN component Malaysian Indian People’s Party, also rejected Sanusi’s remarks, saying Malaysia was the only country he considered home. Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has asked the authorities to investigate the remarks by PN election director Sanusi Nor.PETALING JAYA: Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has criticised the blatant disregard for racial insensitivities by Perikatan Nasional election director Sanusi Nor suggesting that different ethnic groups in Malaysia can fall back on ancestral homelands outside the country.He said this, coupled with Umno’s reluctance to reprimand him, was a serious cause for concern and may be a sign of things to come, given their newfound alliance, at least in Negeri Sembilan.In a statement today, Ramkarpal said MIC president SA Vigneswaran’s call for BN to go solo does not, in any way, mitigate the damage done by PAS as it was unlikely that this would happen since Umno has not condemned PAS on the matter.On Thursday, Sanusi, who is also Kedah menteri besar, said that “Tanah Melayu” was the only homeland for Malays, unlike other ethnic groups who could go back to India, China or Thailand.Ramkarpal said the remarks, on the campaign trail in Negeri Sembilan, were not only insensitive to non-Malays but a blatant disregard of the mutual respect and understanding between different communities that have long been instilled in the country, as they imply that the Indians and Chinese do not belong here since they can return to their respective countries, namely India and China.“Such remarks cannot be coincidental as they come so soon after Sanusi’s party president, Abdul Hadi Awang’s statement on July 16, which implied that non-Malays were 'pendatang' in this country.“There can be no doubt that such racial rhetoric ought to be severely condemned as they have no place in multicultural and multiracial Malaysia.
If left unchecked, it can potentially spark racial tensions in this country.”Ramkarpal said BN component parties, MIC and MCA, must clearly state their stand on the position of PAS, particularly as to whether they were prepared to leave BN as a result, as such a position can have far-reaching consequences on racial harmony in the country.The DAP MP called upon the authorities to commence the necessary investigations against Sanusi as a failure to do so risked such remarks being repeated as they can be detrimental to racial relations in this country.
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