Gerakan Youth chief pans march, deputy lauds it
Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang questioned what yesterday's march against the Sedition Act had achieved. He was also unimpressed with the turnout.
Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang questioned what yesterday's march against the Sedition Act had achieved. He was also unimpressed with the turnout.
On the contrary, his deputy Andy Yong joined the march and lauded the Bar Council for the effort.
But both Tan and Yong ( right ) agreed that the Sedition Act should be replaced.
Following the walk, Yong, a practicing lawyer, said he was proud that Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong was given the "honour" to represent Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to receive the memorandum from the Malaysian Bar.
"The honourable task was a strong testament to Gerakan's resolve and efforts in calling for the repeal of the Sedition Act," he added in a statement yesterday.
Reiterating Gerakan's stance against the Sedition Act, Yong said the party holds firmly that the legislation stifles freedom of speech.
"Although freedom is not absolute, the government has the responsibility to foster a social environment that enables the rakyat to express themselves comfortably within the ambit of the law," he added.
Meanwhile, Tan ( left ) tweeted yesterday that the participants of the walk did not offer an alternative to the Sedition Act.
"(They should) suggest a progressive National Harmony Act as the way forward," he said.
Noting that it was easy to call for the repeal of the Act, Tan asked what laws would then prevent "bigots from creating racial and religious tension in our country?"
"So, what did the walk achieve? Any idea?" he added.
In another series of tweets today, Tan seemed to defend his comments made against the walk, saying that he will “never support anything that may lead to a street demonstration”.
“Don’t forget riots usually start off as a peaceful walk.
“Best example is Bersih’s violent street demonstration in 2012. They claim to be peaceful, but it ended up as otherwise,” tweeted Tan.
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