I refer to the Bernama statement by Minister Paul Low entitled ‘Malaysians should be grateful for peace, harmony, says Paul Low’ in The Malaysian Insider on Saturday.

Real peace and harmony can only be achieved when the top leadership of this country does not spew hatred and sow discord amongst Malaysians. Low should know better that fellow Umno ministers were present at the red shirt rally on Malaysia Day giving endorsement and recognition to such a racially charged cause.

How can Malaysians be grateful for peace and harmony when fellow Malaysians had to hide at home on Malaysia Day and businesses had to shut down in Kuala Lumpur for fear of violence caused by the red shirt rally? Doesn’t Low know?

Low has further claimed that rallies such as Bersih 4 and the red shirt rally were not done in a proper way and had elements of hatred and disunity and disrupted the nation’s peace and harmony.

“In terms of yellow shirt (Bersih 4), I have no problem with it, but apart from demonstrating against the economy, justice, and fair elections, they were asking the prime minister to resign. So this is a problem because they must know that the prime minister is elected through the general election.”

It is most shameful that someone with Low’s experience in Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) can paint both the yellow and red rally with the same brush. One demands for good governance while the other sows racial discord.

May I kindly remind Low that a demand for an elected representative’s resignation, especially one who is plagued with scandals and allegation of corruption, is a demand for a moral act? Low should know better as the former president of Transparency Malaysia. All over the world, TI-M has various chapters demanding for good governance and accountability and that includes a call for resignation of corrupt executives.

It is time for ministers like Paul Low, Liow Tiong Lai and Mah Siew Keong to lift the carpet and examine the amount of rot that is being swept underneath. Until and unless these ministers stop living in denial, peace and harmony remain a far-fetched fairytale. Low, let’s confront the elephant in the room and a good place to start would be the prime minister himself.

HHANNAH YEOH is speaker of the Selangor state legislative assembly and state assemblyperson for Subang Jaya.