THE latest wave of anti-Chinese sentiment from UMNO Youth over the flag and other manufactured outrages should have been the moment Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or PMX, stood firm and drew a line.
Instead, he appears paralysed, as if forgetting that Chinese votes carried him into Putrajaya.
One stark trait of our PM is his reluctance to step into national controversies. He cherry-picks his sound bites on safer ground or not at all. On this, he has been an utter disappointment.
Equally baffling is the response of Chinese parties in government. They endure repeated insults and provocations from UMNO Youth with stoic silence, yet spring instantly into outrage at PAS’ religious rhetoric.
This selective sensitivity betrays a warped sense of priorities. If unity is truly the goal, then surely the poison of racial hostility deserves equal, if not greater, urgency.
UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Salleh is, clearly, a member of the untouchable elite; no different from the Sabah politicians or the celebrity preachers Zamri Vinoth and Firdaus Wong.
Fortunately, we have former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as a lone voice of reason, filling the vacuum left by our PM’s silence.
On Thursday (Aug 14), a row of shops in Kepala Batas was forced to close early as Akmal led a “flag inspection” rally targeting a hardware store where its owner, Feng Jin Zhen, was filmed holding the Malaysian flag upside down.
Police cordoned off the area, while lawyers for Zaid attended to defend the owner from harassment.
Akmal, dismissing Feng’s explanation as accidental, branded the act “traitorous” and urged supporters to join him in “teaching” the shop owners how to hang the flag.
Police are investigating under the Emblems and Names Act and related laws.
Akmal gave his statement to police at the Dang Wangi IPD over last Thursday’s Kepala Batas assembly. His lawyer said Akmal cooperated fully, answering about 80 questions.
He is being investigated under the Sedition Act, the Penal Code (criminal intimidation), and the Communications and Multimedia Act. Afterward, Akmal addressed supporters outside the IPD, pledging full cooperation with the investigation. — Aug 16, 2025
Main photo credit: Malaysiakini
