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Noh Omar's apology 'lacks sincerity'
Published:  Apr 9, 2010 1:36 PM
Updated: Apr 10, 2010 12:29 AM

your say 'To only apologise to the Chinese dailies ‘because the contentious quotes were only highlighted by them' shows his insincerity. He should have apologised to all Malaysians instead.'

 

Racial remark: Noh Omar says 'sorry'

Urban Malaysian: What kind of apology is this, Noh Omar? By limiting it the Chinese press, it means that this apology is confined to Chinese Malaysians. Are you afraid that the Malays who read Berita Harian will shun you if they learn that you apologise to the 'pendatangs'?

If this is really 1Malaysia, then the apology should be carried by all media - English, Malay, Chinese, Tamil - both mainstream and online.

We, Malaysians of Chinese descent, demand that Prime Minister Najib Razak walk his 1Malaysia talk and direct Noh's apology to be printed in the Malay mainstream media, particularly the ultra-Malay Utusan Malaysia. Otherwise this is just another sandiwara (shadow play).

Nik V: If his apology is only printed in the Chinese and English dailies but not in the Malay dailies, then we should be alert to the fact that this is their way of ensuring that the Malay readers in the interiors are being brainwashed to think that the non-Malays are ungrateful, while the Chinese readers think that all is okay because he had apologised.

Tan Min Fui: This guy didn't learn anything from his infamous ‘nude squat' statement of 2005. Deep down he is not sincere in his apology. Why only apologise in the Chinese papers? To only apologise to the Chinese dailies "because the contentious quotes were only highlighted by them" show his insincerity. He should have apologised to all Malaysians instead.

Artchan: Yet another Umno leader trying to outdo Perkasa? Umno is trapped in racist mindset, and Najib Razak twiddles his finger while seeing his people outdo each other to be more racist than the other.

Chipmunk: Since the time as deputy internal security minister, we have seen Noh's true colours. He is not sincere in his apologies and I am sure he was forced to say it, partly due to the upcoming by-election. Then again, his focus was only on the Chinese as MCA staged a walk-out. What about to MIC, PPP, Gerakan? Did he apologise to them?

Also MIC, PPP and Gerakan never reacted as what MCA did and that speaks volume of their reason to stay in power.

Justgreat: So what's new about Umno politicians? They are always testing water to gauge the people's sentiments - especially the non-Malays. And every time Umno politicians utter such racial remarks, they get away scot free. If any opposition MP makes a racial remark, all hell breaks loose and Umno will cry for blood.

Confused: I guess when someone apologises too many times, you will know that it is insincere. After all, it does not cost him much to apologise so long he thinks he will get the Chinese votes for BN in the coming by-election.

Peter Paul: What is the point of this non-stop history lessons, even at BTN (Biro Tatanegara). We all know who the indigenous people of Malaya are. Whatever our historical origins, the fifth generation non-Malays are very much part of the country and would not want to call any other place on the planet their home, although their cultural links to the country of origin would continue to exist.

Today all of us, no matter our origin, have our destiny tied together. We are going to sink or swim together. That's what unity is all about - not to go back to history and tell us to sedar diri , that our forefathers were immigrants, and so you must bersyukur . We already know that.

Now it is us against the world. We must unite and save the nation from corruption and bad governance so that once again we stand tall in Southeast Asia instead of being behind Vietnam and Thailand.

Geronimo: Let's face it, this will not be the last time that such racial remarks are made about Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent. If it is not Ibrahim Ali, it is Ridhuan Tee. If it is not Ridhuan Tee, it is Utusan Malaysia . If it is not Utusan Malaysia , it is Ahmad Ismail, and the list goes on.

Sabahan: This is not even a real apology. "If" this..., "if" that..., why not just say that you are wrong and your statement is wrong? Insincere apology is no apology at all.

Professor: It is not that difficult to know whether someone is sincere or not. Umno, MCA and MIC can never divorce themselves from fighting for their own race, and at the expense of other races. That is the basis of their existence. They try to cooperate and present itself as a cohesive front. But the reality is very different.

Malaysiaboleh: It looks like we are now politician-bashing advocates irrespective if a politician has changed or apologised for his mistake. I think it's great to bash when they make mistakes, but when they apologised, let's encourage them positively. Don't you think that it will further encourage a culture of promoting these politicians to change?

By continuing to bash whenever they say "sorry", we are telling them not to bother to change as it will not be accepted.

Bernard Chen: Whilst I disagree with the politician bashing, I don't think the politicians that make callous racist remarks over and over again should be encouraged in anyway. They should just be ignored. Racist remarks have no place in our beloved muti-ethnic community.

People like them have no business speaking, and should the leaders of parties decide to let him speak, then we have a choice not to listen. Just ignore them. They will get what is coming to them in the next GE.

DontPlayGod: It is difficult for Umno leaders to change their mindset after decades of brainwashing by BTN, Utusan Malaysia and Umno itself. We forgive you Noh, because you can't change overnight. It may take you decades, or maybe not.

Jon Lee: Umno says something racist, MCA gets mad. Umno apologises, MCA accepts with open arms. What happens when MCA says something that angers Umno?

Teh: This is the typical Umno way of saying sorry - by saying sorry without really saying sorry. They have perfected it into an art form.

 


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