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Endless attacks on MIC chief indicate nothing more than failed ploy

LETTER | Referring to a statement made by writer Mariam Mokhtar which was recently published by an online media outlet titled “MIC chief’s behaviour may have backfired”, I would like to suggest that Mariam reflect on herself first rather than jump on the bandwagon and make irrelevant statements on a subject that she has no complete understanding of.

Her statement clearly indicates her immaturity, but I don’t entirely blame it on her. It is the opposition mindset that she is so used to having before that's blurring her vision from seeing the truth. Calling a Senate president and an elected MP “blind” is just one of it.

First and foremost, I really hope that both the minister and his friend here really understand administrative laws because when the minister accused the Senate's president, he acted ultra vires.

My concern is, she was part of the Bersih movement that advocated for the values of fairness, justice and integrity. She should be better versed in law but in this case, she has apparently let partisan politics blindfold her and let fairness, justice, and integrity - the values that she used to preach - seem no longer relevant.

Rather than calling the Senate’s president and an elected MP blind, she should tell Transport Minister Anthony Loke at first that he should never have done it in such a way. The treatment given by Loke to Senator S Vigneswaran is much worse than that of hudud.

It is the minister who accused him. It is the minister that led a public trial through his endless press conferences as well as social media statements. It is the minister that concluded that the Senate’s president is wrong, resulting in him and his family becoming victims of all the ruthless and unethical comments from the minister’s supporters.

Didn’t Mariam, as an advocate of the principle of "rule of law", see this as an unethical act of one breaching the principle of “rule of law” itself?

It is a disgrace for her to come up with such a statement just simply because it involves an opposition party leader. I wonder if she would have done the same if a leader from Pakatan Harapan was held to such treatment by a BN minister or even a Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) staff member during BN rule.

A picture is worth a thousand words but Loke and you are only willing to show only one side of it. You should be ashamed of being unable to put into practice the values you have preached all this while.

The VIP lounge or lane is there to be used by senior government officials, just like Vigneswaran as the Senate president, a position much higher than a minister.

If the minister feels that such privileges are no longer relevant, considering the government today is the government of the rakyat as proclaimed by many of you there, I would rather suggest the minister just revoke it for once and for all. Does the government have what it takes to do so?

Furthermore, it is also my responsibility to highlight that the rules in the VIP lounge are not to be set by the minister. It comes under the responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Department, and if Vigneswaran is wrong as per accused by the minister as well as you, it is under the jurisdiction of the security personnel and not an MAB administrative staff.

As far as I’m concerned, the security personnel never even tried to stop Vigneswaran, thus making me think whether he is really wrong or not.

Anyway, whatever you say doesn’t really matter as the actions of you and your people clearly indicate that there is no room for principles or ethics in the politics that you preach and practice.

You used to harshly criticise Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad with all sorts of accusations but in the end it was through him that you and your people managed to obtain power. How ironic that is for you people to talk about principles after all that you people have done.

My advice to Mariam: please get the facts right and listen to both sides of the story. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon trying to be a hero, being a disgrace to the many freedom fighters that you have preached of before.

If you feel that you’re that credible, and you know all the facts and figures of this case, I would like to invite you to be a witness in Vigneswaran’s trial thus to prove that he is guilty as per alleged by the minister and you.

Last but not least, I would like to remind you both that Harapan never won the past general election with popular votes. You people simply won due to Mahathir, the exact same person you both used to accuse with many baseless accusations. The popular votes still remain at large with the opposition. If you feel you are great enough, let's try having the election now again.

Thank you. 


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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