Utusan just being racist as usual

Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia is just being racist as usual when it questioned the poor non-Malay turnout during the anti-price hike rally on New Year’s eve, said PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli.

“I don’t spend much time reasoning with people with racist mindsets. If we had more non-Malays, they would say it was a DAP-led rally.

“But if we had more Malays, they would say the non-Malays were using the Malays,” he told FMT today.

He added that the rakyat did not join a particular rally based on whether it was led by Malays or non-Malays.

Utusan editors under the pseudonym Awang Selamat in its column Bisik-Bisik today wrote: “Where were the other races when they are the ones who supported and encouraged the protest through social media?” he asked.

When asked for the percentage of the non-Malays at the rally, Rafizi gave a ratio of 70:30.

“I would say that for every seven Malays, there were three non-Malays, which is not so bad since it more or less reflects the racial composition,” said the Pandan MP.

Although admitting that the recent rally had fewer non-Malays than the previous Bersih and Black 505 rallies, Rafizi said the number of non-Malay participation had risen considerably.

“The Reformasi movement only had Malays, however, today, the number of non-Malays is far greater now.

“This proves that the participation can no longer be pinpointed to Malays or non-Malays. Therefore it is ridiculous to conform to racial quota,” he said.

Rafizi said it was important to note that most young Malaysians no longer looked at national issues from a racial perspective.

“At every rally, you’ll see some consistencies, where young Malaysians are coming up regardless of racial perspective. They participate due to the issues shared,” he said.

His Pakatan Rakyat colleague, PAS central working committee (CWC) member Dzulkefly Ahmad, who also attended the rally, said there were many Chinese and Indians.

Dzulkefly, however, said it was impossible to estimate of the number of non-Malays because the rally was held at night.

“Although there were old faces, there were also more new ones.

“The rally was not about political parties. Participants came from all backgrounds as the issues raised cut across race and culture,” he said. -FMT