SHAH ALAM, 11 Feb: If he was still alive, the Father of Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, would definitely be disappointed and sad by the play of shallow politics that exists in politics today, says Kit Siang.
The DAP Parliamentary Leader, said that the country’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, he would have been disappointed with the elements that are trying to divide Malaysia and its people.
Sadder still, said Kit Siang, is the Umno, which Tunku was part of some time ago, no longer championed the original fight, but instead is ignoring the law only for personal interests.
“If Tunku was still alive, he would definitely be disappointed and saddened by various racial and religious hatred that have been spreading due to slander by some unscrupulous people.
“He would certainly be saddened by the problems such as the economic problems that have cause the ‘kangkung’ tsunami to occur, the country’s weakening education system and the increasing and alarming crime rate,” he said.
He said this when delivering a speech at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Legacy Forum organised by the People’s Institute at the New Era University College in Kajang last night.
At the same time, Kit Siang also stated his disappointment with statements by Umno leaders, such as the Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, which he deemed to be irresponsible.
“After this, will Zahid said the same if there was a reward of RM1,200 for slapping Najib, RM1,300 for smacking Muhyiddin and RM1,500 for a slap on his own face and consider it not an offence,” he said.
Zahid recently said that slaughtering and drenching the blood of chicken on banners with Kit Siang and other leaders faces on it, including the reward of RM1,200 to the individual who successfully slaps the Member of Parliament for Seputeh, Teresa Kok, was not an offence.
Kit Siang also said that the attitude of Umno leaders that has awry like this is the reason why Tunku refused to join Umno, which was first led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Tunku refused to join the new Umno, which was established in 1987 until now, because he realised that Umno has gone astray from its original fight, as did Tun Hussein Onn.
“In fact, I remember a meeting with Tun Hussein, who was then the advisor of Petronas in the late 80’s.
“He said that the greatest fraud in the history of the country was when Mahathir became the Prime Minister of Malaysia,” he added.
Apart from Kit Siang, also participating at the forum was the Chief Minister of Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, and the Kajang PR candidate who is also the PKR de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
