KUALA LUMPUR – The behaviour of labelling the Chinese community in new villages as communists without knowing the history is disappointing, said former Port Dickson MP Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib, who claimed that the government is recognising the struggles of the communists through its upcoming plan to nominate Chinese new villages in Selangor as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
“It is disappointing to see backbenchers making sensitive statements during parliamentary debates, as it reflects poorly on the overall standards of Malaysian politics,” Danyal said.
“(The PAS MP’s behaviour is) not just shameful but frustrating too to see them making such racial remarks.
“We (Malaysians) are not fighting each other (in real life), but if any foreigner listens to our parliamentary debates, they will think we are not united.
“If they (backbenchers) knew history, they would not be saying that. The fight against communism is not racial,” he said at a press conference in the Royal Malaysia Police Museum here today.
Danyal, who is also a veteran navy officer, criticised the racially motivated language of those politicians, adding that it could lead to brainwashing younger generations to adopt this unhealthy mindset.
Earlier this week, PAS’ Maran MP Ismail Abd Muttalib claimed that plans to nominate Chinese new villages in Selangor as a Unesco World Heritage Site would be tantamount to the government acknowledging the “communist fight”.
“Does everyone know that the formation of Chinese new villages is the result of the communist fight and action to disturb our nation? That was the main reason (for the setting up of Chinese new villages).
“If we make Chinese new villages a heritage site, that means that the minister agrees that the (communist) fight, which was a black spot on our nation’s history, (should be) recognised,” the former Umno man added. – March 8, 2024