The UMNO General Assembly should stop manufacturing lies to foment religious and racial hatred against non-Malays and non-Muslims but focus instead on the economic distress suffered by Malaysians and debate how a young Malaysian Jho Low became so wealthy, until he can donate US$25 million to the United Nations. Reuters reported that Jho Low, a Hong Kong-based philanthropist will be granting a US$25 million (RM83.7 million) 15-year investment to allow the United Nations (UN) to spin off its humanitarian news service Integrated Regional Information Networks (Irin) as an independent Swiss-based foundation.
How come no questions were raised about how a wealthy Malaysian is not giving the same attention to do charity in his own country? Is the loud silence by UMNO General Assembly related to impressions that Jho Low is untouchable due to his close links with top UMNO personalities as well as with the controversial 1MDB?
No priority has been given to the plight of poor and middle-class Malaysians who are suffering the negative impact from the serial price hikes of sugar, petrol, motor insurance premiums and electricity tariffs. At the same time, Malaysia is become a country of debtors with Federal government debt increasing by more than 100% from RM266 billion at end 2007 to RM570 billion at mid June 2014 whilst our personal household debt is the second highest in Asia at 87% of GDP, making cost of living an increasingly serious problem for low-income groups.
Instead UMNO has spread lies against the DAP and the Penang state government that DAP is buying land in Balik Pulau, Penang, no matter how expensive the cost to chase out the Malays. This is a lie because DAP did not buy a single inch of land in Balik Pulau. DAP had only bought its office building at Rangoon Road in George Town.
DAP and myself have been accused of trying to chase out the Malays by buying over their land to build expensive homes and building a settlement for the Malays on Seberang Prai, which has caused the Malay population in Penang to drop from 41% to 40%. These lies are false. The allegation that the Malay population in Penang has gone down from 41% to 40% in 2013 is untrue as the Malay population in Penang has increased instead. UMNO can check easily with the Federal government’s Statistics Department.
UMNO Leaders Are The One Who Betrayed The Malays By Selling Malay Land At A Profit.
The ones buying over Malay land and selling to 3rd parties is not DAP but Penang UMNO leaders. UMNO Leaders are the one who betrayed the Malays by selling Malay land at a profit. A clear case in point is the purchase of 10 acres of Malay land in Kampung Terang, Balik Pulau in Penang on 31 January 2012 for RM8.6 million from 31 Malays landowners by Maison Height Sdn Bhd. Three and a half months later, on May 16 2012, the same piece of land was sold at a profit of RM5 million for RM 13.5 million to a 3rd party.
Maison Heights Sdn Bhd is owned by Bukit Mertajam UMNO Division chief Dato Musa Bin Haji Sheikh Fadzir and Bukit Glugor UMNO Division chief Dato Omar Bin Haji Faudzar. Instead of condemning the two Penang UMNO leaders for profiting from the sale of Malay land in Balik Pulau, I get blamed even though I did not earn a single cent.
Such hypocrisy by UMNO continues in blaming the state government for building expensive housing, even though the state government follow the guidelines set by the Federal government of building houses costing between RM42,000 to RM400,000. Why do UMNO delegates not condemn Federal government agencies like PERDA that breaches the Federal government guidelines by building luxury homes that cost RM1.85 million, 4 times the permissible price of RM400,000?
Again UMNO lied by claiming that even though 70% of state government contracts are awarded to Malay contractors by open competitive tenders, the value of these contracts given is much less. The value in fact is higher and worth nearly 90% of the value of all state government contracts given when the RM6.3 billion road works and under seabed tunnel project was awarded by open competitive tender to a Malay-led consortium. Clearly, ordinary Malay contractors can compete – it is UMNO contractors that can not compete and win contracts by open tenders.
What is most disturbing is a former deputy Minister, Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, raising inflammatory sensitive issues with claims that the Chinese community in Kuala Kedah had burned the Quran, page by page during a prayer ritual. The police had indicated that this was done by an individual, who had been sent for mental examination, but Mashitah is claiming that the act of burning the Quran is done not by an individual but by the Chinese community there.
This is a dangerous claim and should be fully investigated. If true, stern action should be taken against the wrongdoers. But if it is not true, then Dr Mashitah should be prosecuted in court for raising a false issue that can cause religious disharmony and racial discord.
Such wild claims are not entertaining any more but is dangerous to the social fabric of our multi-racial society. Bullying non-Malays and non-Muslims as well as using the rhetoric of race and religion is no substitute for good governance that can make better lives for 28 million ordinary Malaysians.