FOLLOWING criticism over bullying tactics used against a reporter, one of the PAS duo used the patriotism card to defend his behaviour in forcing the English press journalist to speak in Malay.
“Bahasa Malaysia is the national language and should be known by all patriotic Malaysians,” Deputy Human Resources Datuk Awang Hashim was reported saying at the Dewan Rakyat after being reprimanded by Pakatan MP Cha Kee Chin.
However, netizens were unimpressed with Awang using the patriotism argument to justify his unruly behaviour against a media personnel.
User Akmal Majid retorted by saying:
Netizen JO Huang added:
“So how? Tak patriotik? (not patriotic)”
On Nov 14, Minderjeet Kaur from Free Malaysia Today (FMT) had attempted to ask Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Idris Ahmad questions in regards to Kedah’s ban on 4D gaming outlets, during the launch of Perikatan Nasional manifesto in Shah Alam.
Humility an “international language”
Instead of answering the question, Idris shot back at the reporter asking would she accept it if her husband was a gambler.
He had also claimed that when PAS banned gambling in Kelantan and Terengganu, both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities accepted it.
With that, Awang also stepped in and told Minderjeet to ask question in Malay instead of English, even resorting to questioning her citizenship.
Their behaviour received brickbats from various non-governmental organisations (NGO) and media outlets who urged the duo to apologise but have yet to do so.
On that note, user Lim Elaine told Awang that a command of language does not equate to patriotism but humility, empathy and humanity are “languages” that can be understood by all. – Nov 18, 2021.
Netizen Shanti Balakrishnan remarked:
Pic credit: The Star
