Media statement by Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 20^th June 2011: 

UMNO's tacit support for Perkasa's inflammatory and dangerous threats shows that 1Malaysia is nothing but lip service and an empty slogan 

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali's recent vile actions and malicious remarks at the launch of the Bersih 2.0 counter-protest at Kampung Baru are nothing short of seditious. Not only were pictures of Bersih chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan burned and stomped upon, flyers were distributed describing her as a 'dangerous Hindu woman'.

Ibrahim Ali also then raised the threat of another May 13, by proclaiming himself a 'war general' and warning of severe repercussion for the Chinese community if they proceed with the Bersih march. He also suggested that the Chinese community may have to stock up on food should anything happen.

Never before in Malaysian history has anyone issued such an irresponsible and racist statement by calling on a certain community to stock up on food. Such a remark is clearly unacceptable by every peace-loving Malaysian.

By allowing such fascistic and Nazi-like threats by Ibrahim Ali, UMNO is indeed showing its true colours as a party that survives on racial division. In its refusal to take action, UMNO is therefore guilty of supporting Perkasa and its stand. In fact, this has been obvious for quite some time, as demonstrated by UMNO's lack of will in taking action in numerous cases such as the Cow's head protest in 2009 and various remarks by their leaders equating Indians to beggars and Chinese women to prostitutes.

This clearly proves that 1 Malaysia is nothing more than an exercise in self-delusion and mass deception.

UMNO must stop fanning racial and religious sentiments, as it is extremely dangerous and will lead to unrest. The fact of the matter is that Malaysians all live peacefully and have no problem with each other.

In Penang, the Pakatan Rakyat's open tender policy was attacked by UMNO as an attempt to deny Malays their economic opportunities, but this fallacy has been proven wrong by the fact that 70% of all Penang State Government contracts are won by Malay contractors.

In other words, this shows that it is not Malay contractors who are unable to compete, but in fact UMNO contractors who cannot keep up in a fair competition. The open tender system has since been implemented without any unhappiness from Malay contractors because not only do they benefit, they have also succeeded on their own merit.

It is obvious that UMNO, which is now politically bankrupt, is unable to raise any other issue besides race and religion, which is conveniently used to not only scare the people, but also to cover up their shortcomings.

Instead of focusing on race and religion, perhaps UMNO and Barisan Nasional should explain why they are allowing the Lynas Rare Earth Plant in Kuantan to be built, despite all the dangers inherent in such a move. To justify their decision, they have brought a panel of radiological experts from the IAEA to review the case. However, not only does the panel contain no public health and environmental expert, the IAEA is also seen to be industry-driven, and is expected to rubber-stamp their approval.

Perhaps the BN Government is also trying to pull a wool over Malaysian eyes in the face of the RM1.8million Tourism Malaysia Facebook scandal. Malaysians are baffled and in disbelief over the fact that the Ministry has spent such an exorbitant amount of money on a social media website that is available for free.

If, as Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen claims, that the money was also spent for publicity and advertising for their campaign, then Malaysians want to know why despite so much money spent the Facebook page only managed to garner slightly over 20,000 fans. In contrast, the Visit Penang Facebook page, which was set up for free and operated by only 1 staff, managed to attract more than 100,000 fans.

Instead of finding ways to waste public money, Ng Yen Yen and other MCA leaders should try standing up to their 'Big Brother' UMNO in the face of the latter's dangerous racial and religious posturing.

*Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister, DAP Secretary General & MP for Bagan