Gerakan has blasted Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali for "fearmongering" and raising the spectre of the May 13 riots, warning politicians not to play the race card just for "getting a few extra votes".

gerakan youth agm 2007 051007 mah siew keong Party vice-president Mah Siew Keong ( left) was commenting on Ibrahim's interview with a Malay daily yesterday where the Pasir Mas independent MP claimed that the Malay supremacist pressure group was "not racist".

In the interview, Perkasa chief claimed that the Chinese already has it good, including monopoly of "haram" businesses such as betting and massage parlours that were out of reach of the Muslims, yet the community was hungry for political power, warning of dire consequences.

Mah ticked Ibrahim off "for again spreading his all-too-familiar fearmongering remarks ... claiming that the Chinese community will become a national security threat if it grows more powerful politically and economically, which he said would result in another bloody racial clash just like the May 13 riots in 1969."

"(Ibrahim's) remarks were hugely irresponsible and completely baseless," said Mah in a statement today.

"It is people like Ibrahim Ali who are hindering the progress of 1Malaysia," he added, calling on politicians not to play on racial issues for political gain.

Nation's future more important

"The future of the country is more important than getting a few extra votes," said Mah.

NONE In the Sinar Harian interview , Ibrahim ( right ) had claimed that the Malays were still economically behind and that the Chinese were controlling 40 percent of the nation's economy, yet the latter wanted more.

"Today the Chinese look okay, but they still feel it is not enough, ‘bagi betis nak peha' (give an inch, want a mile), today they control 40 percent of the country's economy, but now they want political power as well, but what would happen 25 years from now?" said the abrasive right wing lobbyist.

"Today it is okay, but tomorrow when their power is widespread, at that time it will threaten the security of the country, the May 13 incident will recur," he warned.

"The Chinese today like to play with political sentiments, they forget that Malaysia is for them like heaven, if there is chaos what will happen? Like the May 13 incident, they cannot do business.

"We, too, wouldn't want this to happen," he said, saying what was needed was another 20 to 50 years so that equality between the Malays and the Chinese in economic terms could be achieved.

NONE Mah said Ibrahim had "himself with such a heinous and flagitious act by once again attempting to strike fear into the hearts of the people, inciting hatred and creating racial tension within the society."

Ironically Ibrahim today pledged full support for the BN, of which Gerakan is a part, so that it would win the next polls with a two-thirds majority, ensuring "issues related to Malay rulers and Islam would not be raised by other races".