Umno’s rhetoric on race and religion will push Malays backwards - Mujahid

CAMERON POLLS | BN component party Umno’s brand of racial and religious politics will push the Malays backwards, said Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa to Felda villagers last night.

Speaking at Pakatan Harapan’s mega-ceramah at Felda Sungai Koyan 1 in Jelai, the de facto religion minister urged the audience to reject such rhetoric.

“If Umno-BN continues to use religious and racial issues (in their politics), I can vouch that this will push the Malays backwards.

“[...] There will be no progress if Umno-BN always uses these issues that cause Malays and Muslims to fear when they see non-Muslims. What good does this bring?

“The Malays will always feel insecure if (they are told) the country is controlled by DAP and DAP is made up of the Chinese. This is the worst,” he said.

In contrast, he said Harapan envisioned a society where all races worked together to build the nation.

Rejecting Umno's 'defender' claim

Mujahid further rejected Umno’s claim of being defenders of the Malays and Islam.

“Today, all of a sudden, they want to be champions. They say they want to defend Islam.

“If you ask me, I think tahi kucing ah (that is cat’s piss)!” he said.

As an example, Mujahid highlighted how, under the BN government, Tabung Haji had used the savings of its depositors to pay dividends.

The pilgrimage fund had also racked up RM4.1 billion in debt.

“The previous minister in charge and (Tabung Haji) chairperson did not care about Islamic issues. They cared more about their projects!” he said.

On Wednesday, former Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim had been charged with 12 counts of receiving gratification and money laundering.

Seeking support

He appealed to voters to back the Harapan government, which he said was working hard to plug holes in important institutions like Tabung Haji.

“Let people say what they want, let us choose the path of Malaysia Baru.

“We believe the Malays and Islam will be better under Harapan,” he stressed.

In the 14th general election (GE14), BN and PAS proved to be far more popular than Harapan among voters in the three Felda settlements in Cameron Highlands, which are almost entirely Malay.

Harapan’s GE14 candidate M Manogaran is standing for the coalition again in the upcoming by-election for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat on Jan 26.

Meanwhile, BN is fielding former top cop Ramli Mohd Nor, who is an Orang Asli.

Two independents, Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee, have also joined the race.

The by-election was triggered after the Election Court ruled that vote-buying had led to MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh’s win in GE14.

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