Editor’s note: Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has claimed that the provocative TikTok video clip of his speech which has sparked furore of the Council of Churches of Malaysia (it also branded Pakatan Harapan [PH] as a “Jewish agent”) was “completely taken out of context and circulated by PN’s political opponents specifically to tarnish my image and to create a false narrative”.
“My entire speech was approximately 55 minutes long. This clip that is circulating on TikTok and social media is a limited one minute and 35 seconds out of the whole speech,” he clarified in his statement of defence.
“I specifically and unequivocally spoke about the need for political stability, the need to avoid corruption, the need for DAP to show restraint in its demands and to respect the rights of all races in Malaysia including the special rights of the Malays and the Malay rulers.”
As. PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has vowed that his party will seek to file an election petition against Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin if the latter is re-elected as the MP for Pagoh on grounds of deliberately stoking racial sentiments, the Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF) remains unconvinced that the Bersatu president will ever turn over a new leaf.
Below is a media statement issued by president of the anti-supremacist movement, S. Shashi Kumar, to FocusM:
WE condemn the racist and fanatic slur by former prime minister (PM) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in the Tik Tok video clip which has gone viral. Among others, he stated that “it’s very dangerous to support political parties such as Pakatan Harapan (PH)” given that he has watched a video depicting that “the Jews were talking about Malaysia and praying for the government to fall into the opposition’s hands”.
He also went on claiming that “there are Malays attending churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya on Sundays and it seems they have converted to Christian”, thus “their intention is to take over Malaysia and colonise the nation”.
We in GHRF are not surprised with Muhyiddin’s statement or any other race-based political parties since racism and fanatic remarks have become a norm by politicians from PAS and GTA (Gerakan Tanah Air) component parties to gain the support of the Malay Muslim community.
It seems like Muhyiddin nor Besatu has any better ammunition to win this 15th General Election (GE15) except to play the racial and religious card by lying and cheating the Malay Muslim community to support them.
This is the same Muhyiddin who in his capacity as home minister back in 2018 claimed the existence of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Malaysia which led to 12 men being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA).
LTTE was defeated by Sri Lankan authorities in 2009 and was removed from the terrorism blacklist of the European Union by the European Court of Justice for a second time in July 2017 and there was no evidence to establish that LTTE carried out any attacks after its military defeat in 2009.
LTTE has never in its history carried out violent attacks in Malaysia but only Muhyiddin believed on the existence of LTTE in Malaysia. And now he has started a new propaganda with regard to the Jews and Christianisation in Malaysia.
This type of irresponsible politicians has been using racial and religious statements to gain the support of Malay Muslim voters. This has become their SOP (standard operating procedure) for the past 60 or more years. This is the type of politicians who propagates hatred and destruction of unity and harmony among fellow Malaysians.
Index Mundi, a data portal which gathers facts and statistics, has recently carried out a Racial Discrimination Survey. When the results were out, Malaysia was ranked second on the chart among 76 countries – just behind South Africa – and with Guatemala ranking third. This is not the first time we are ranked highly on the list (Malaysia was also placed second in 2020 and 2021).
Peter John Jaban who is the spokesman and vice secretary of GHRF Sarawak would also like to remind Muhyiddin with regard to his blatant allegation or else it is just another fitnah (slander) or a lie so as to gain support from Muslim voters.
It is a shame to see such a racist and fanatic statement being uttered by an ex-PM. His political coalition (PN) is definitely going to lose out among majority of the Sarawakian Christian voters.
He should be investigated for having a tendency to create racial and religious tension and strife. His speech is a corruption of our political process in the extreme and a direct attack on Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
GHRF will continue to press for a “Racial and Religious Hate bill” to be tabled in the Parliament to combat issues pertaining to racism and fanaticism. – Nov 19, 2022
