DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang should be more rational and exercise caution when issuing statements, more so when it is related to the issue of racial unity, Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) Alumni president Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said.

He said Lim's call for Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin to take stern action against two teachers who had allegedly uttered racially sensitive statements smacked of dictatorship.

"As a DAP leader and a full-time politician, Kit Siang is not necessarily a know-all. He should refer to the General Orders and the powers vested in the Public Service Department," he told reporters after opening a budget hotel in Padang Serai near Kulim, Kedah, last night.

Shamsul Anuar was commenting on Muhyiddin's statement that he did not have the executive powers to act against a principal and a teacher who had allegedly uttered racially sensitive statements, and that such authority was vested in the chief secretary to the government.

Muhyiddin had responded to Lim's claim that Muhyiddin was reluctant to use his powers as a minister to take stern action against a principal in Kulai Jaya, Johor, and a teacher in Bukit Selambau, Kedah, who had allegedly made racially-sensitive statements recently.

- Bernama