The opposition is only good at playing up racial and religious issues to garner public support, and has remained long in the political arena with that ideology, said Barisan Nasional candidate Zulkifli Noordin.

Zulkifli, who is contesting the Shah Alam parliamentary seat, said while he was with the opposition previously, he was blinded to the importance of racial harmony in this country and was fed with the narrow ideology of racial politics that were extreme in nature.

"Not just between the different races, I was also taught to hate people from my own race.

But when with BN, I have been taught the politics of harmony and love, and consideration for the interests of different races and religions under the banner of developing Malaysia for a better future for all.

"BN has opened my eyes to the fact that unity among people of different races and religions could be a reality, not a dream," he told reporters in Shah Alam last night.

He had earlier attended a dinner function with members of Indian non-governmental organisations and Indian community in Shah Alam. Also present were the BN candidate for the Batu Tiga state seat, Ahmad Nawawi M Zin and advisor to the Persatuan Kebajikan Modal Insan Selangor, SK Subramaniam.

Zulkifli, who is Perkasa vice-president, was once involved in controversy when certain quarters carried a video recording of his ceramah in which he mocked the Hindu religion eight years ago while with the opposition, but he had openly apologised to the Indian community over his remark.

Non-Malay proposer and seconder

He said the controversy which hit him was a clear example of how the opposition played up racial and religious issues to win support for political expediency.

"They (opposition) don't look at themselves in the mirror. On nomination day recently, my proposer and seconder were a Chinese and an Indian from the MCA and MIC respectively and it was the same for Ahmad Nawawi.

"But their (opposition's) candidate, proposer and seconder were all from one race.

"As we come from different backgrounds, sometimes we have differences of opinion, but BN teaches me to solve problems through discussions and explanations and to apologise sincerely for mistakes.

"But this is what the opposition did not teach me," he added.

Subramaniam, meanwhile, expressed confidence in Zulkifli as the best candidate to represent the three major races in Shah Alam and stressed that the controversy involving Zulkifli was past and should not be raised again.

"In our (Hindu) religion, we the Indians are taught to forgive those who realise their mistakes and sincerely apologise.

"This ability has also helped us Malaysians to live in harmony for such a long time," he said.

- Bernama

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