YOURSAY | 'Imagine a state giving a public holiday so that Kelantanese can attend a demonstration in KL.'

Kelantan declares Dec 9 'cuti peristiwa' in view of anti-Icerd rally

Gerard Lourdesamy: This is a total abuse of power. Imagine a state giving a public holiday so that party members and supporters can attend a political demonstration in another state. Utter disgrace.

Jehangirl: Yes, what an abuse of power. A demonstration is not a festival and does not occasion a public holiday. This shows how desperate you are to get the crowd.

Are you also using your state revenues to pay for people to travel to the demonstration?

Never Too Late: This shows the true colours of the state’s call to ‘membangun bersama Islam’ (rise with Islam).

They prefer to waste time and money, instead of tackling state unemployment issues, drug addiction among youths, lack of development, et cetera.

It is a shame they are using religion and Islam as propaganda to get uninformed Muslims to support them.

Demi Rakyat: This is is a joke! Declaring a public holiday for people to attend a protest? The protest is nothing about being Malay or Muslim. This is all about politics, racist politics.

What else can we call it? It's about supporting discrimination against minorities of other races and religion.

StraightTalk: Indeed, a meaningless rally and a wasteful holiday. If this is how Umno and PAS leaders want to take this nation forward, let it be.

But after the rally and holiday, all those who participated in the event should come to their senses and think if the nation benefited anything at all from their actions.

Anonymous 770241447347646: One day of productivity wasted. This cost millions of ringgit. 

A state that cannot even pay its salaries, yet gives a day holiday for their own personal agenda.

Cicak Boy: And while the Kelantanese are busy enjoying their holiday or demonstrating in Kuala Lumpur, other Malaysians will be working over the weekend to pay taxes so that the PAS government in Kelantan can pay its staff salaries and pay maintenance for the menteri besar’s car.

Tholu: The Malays in Umno, PAS and Malay-based NGOs are vehemently protesting against the equal social, economy and political treatment of all other races in our nation and yet you want those whom you want to deprive such equal rights to join in the protest.

In other words, you want the non-Malays to support the unjustified and discriminatory policies stemming from a Constitution that was drafted 61 years ago.

Unspin: It is acceptable if PAS and Umno want to hold an anti-Icerd rally because they are entitled to their views. 

But what is not acceptable is to celebrate the government's decision not to proceed with the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) because the bottom line is that they are celebrating racism.

Once again, these jokers make us the laughing stock of the world.

Programme director: Rally targets 'traitors', not other races

Drngsc: Icerd programme director Kamaruzaman Mohamad, look in the mirror and see who the traitors are.

Are they not those who steal from the people to enrich themselves and impoverish the people? Are they not those who are traitors to their religion when they steal from pilgrims?

Are they not those who put our good soldiers in harm’s way, just for their own self-image? Are they not those who wish to continue to make their own dependent on crutches so that their own cannot ever become independent without them?

Please take a good look in the mirror and see the truth.

6th Generation Immigrant: This objective and aim - that the rally against Icerd is against traitors - is an afterthought, derived not only from blinkered but totally blinded views.

One can surely see that PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad has plucked the wind out of their sails, while racism is also strongly criticised by thinking citizens. However, these protesters are huffing and puffing to keep their scheme of racism alive.

Kelantan has also declared Dec 9 a holiday. Clearly, a cancellation is more appropriate to save face.

Ed: The pressure is on the organisers to get the numbers they seek.

Just imagine the embarrassment if the numbers are in the tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of thousands, or like someone said, half a million people are expected to show up.

Does this beg the question of what the real underlying message is? I do not think it is racial. It is likely more political in the face of the recent loss in the general election.

Let them vent out some hot air in a peaceful manner. They are the actors and the majority of the population are the audience; the pressure is on the actors. I am certain the police will keep things in check.

Cogito Ergo Sum: The biggest traitor to ‘bangsa, agama dan negara’ (race, religion and country) is Umno itself.

Umno's leaders are facing numerous charges of stealing from the rakyat and bankrupting the nation. So how can you organise a rally against yourself?

Divided, you will fall. And you have already fallen. So this rally must be something else. Whipping up failing support by creating a monster out of the ‘pendatang’ (immigrants).

Anonymous 2293481434643651: Icerd programme director Kamaruzaman, do you know what you are on about?

"Traitors of the nation" are those leaders who are alleged thieves, who stole and looted billions of our national wealth without any morals or credibility left in them.

Why are you not rallying against those alleged crooks who are the ‘pagar makan padi’ (putting one’s hope in someone deemed trustworthy, only to be betrayed)?

May the Almighty God by his power intervene in your rally to make you realise that there is no need for such a rally to proceed.

Why do you want to create animosity? Don’t you want to live in peace? Can’t you live in harmony? Can’t you talk about being a Malaysian rather than differentiating races?

Speaking Sense: A lie by any other name is still a lie, and Kamaruzaman should be called out for it.

Ratifying Icerd has nothing to do with compromising the Constitution. It is to affirm that everyone has equal rights under the Constitution, not that some race or group has more rights than others.

How can it be any other way, unless Kamaruzaman thinks some people should be more equal than others, which is what discrimination is, and which is what Icerd is intended to prevent.

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