MCA today insisted that minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob apologised for his "wrong, extreme, and racist remark" despite coalition partner Umno trying hard to play down the issue.

 

Saying that Ismail’s controversial Facebook remark has put the nation into an “unprecedented crisis”, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan urged the agriculture and agro-based industries minister to withdraw his attack against Chinese traders.

 

Otherwise, Ong feared a "very negative outcome" for the ruling BN coalition.

 

At the same time, Ong slammed DAP for focusing its attack on MCA over the controversy.

 

"The root cause is the minister's statement, thus the gun should be pointed at him rather than at MCA," he said in a statement.

 

"Attacking (party chief) Liow (Tiong Lai) or MCA will only blur the controversy and let go of the real culprit, while innocent people got blamed.”

 

Why did DAP help Ismail?

 

Meanwhile, MCA publicity bureau chief Chai Kim Sen questioned why DAP was helping Ismail to attack the Chinese-based party.

 

Referring to a photograph depicting Liow and Ismail sharing a laugh together while waiting for the arrival of Indonesian president Joko Widodo two days ago, Chai decried that DAP had used it for "cheap publicity".

 

"I want to ask DAP - why help Ismail to attack MCA? Why can't (DAP) stand together with MCA and condemn the racist?"

 

According to Chai, even when DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had a photo taken with Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Aziz, his party has refrained from attacking DAP.

However, both Ong and Chai issued their statements exclusively in Chinese.

Ismail has been in the spotlight since Monday after a screenshot of his comments on Facebook was circulated online, in which he called on Malays to boycott Chinese businesses to compel them to lower prices.

 

"The majority of consumers are Malays. The Chinese are the minority. If the Malays boycott their businesses, they will have no choice but to reduce prices," he wrote.

Lim slams Liow's deceit

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said if MCA is genuinely upset by Ismail's remarks, then Liow's cheerful photo opportunity with Ismail is certainly baffling.

"This is a classic case of saying something in public but doing the complete opposite inside cabinet.

"Can Liow and (deputy MCA chief) Wee Ka Siong explain why they have now overlooked Ismail’s racist anti-Chinese remark?" said Lim ( right ) in a statement today.

He called Liow's public statements "deceitful" in light of the Prime Minister’s Office's statement and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's statement today that MCA and Gerakan were at the cabinet meeting to discuss the matter.

Lim speculated that neither Liow nor Wee had raised in cabinet that Ismail should retract his "untruthful and racist statement, apologise or resign from cabinet".

"Former MCA president Chua Soi Lek is correct when he criticised Liow as not only weak, but also deceitful," said Lim.

Hishammuddin, when asked today if MCA and Gerakan ministers during the cabinet meeting accepted the PMO statement that Ismail's remarks were not racist, dodged the question and instead berated Malaysiakini 's journalist.

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