SNAPSHOT | PKR leader admits 'error' on Sanusi's remarks; group slams racist election rhetoric

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm and 9pm.

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3R issues

• Selangor PKR election director Dr Sathia Prakash Nadarajan has admitted to an error when he repeated an excerpt from Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor's speech during the latter's ceramah in the recent Negeri Sembilan election campaign.

  However, he stressed that the mistake did not affect the basis of the police report he lodged against Sanusi, saying it was not based solely on a particular phrase.

  "I never claimed that the word 'balik' (go back) was an exact excerpt from Sanusi's speech. Instead, the implied meaning of the speech could be understood by listeners who followed the entire address," the New Straits Times reported him saying in a statement last night.

  It was reported that Sathia (above) gave a statement at the Seremban district police headquarters yesterday afternoon over the matter.

READ MORE: SNAPSHOT | PAS Youth accuses PKR leader of distorting Sanusi's remarks on Chinese, Indians

• Pusat Komas has condemned Sanusi's recent election speech, accusing him of reviving long-standing racial narratives by suggesting that Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent have motherlands to return to while Malays only have Tanah Melayu.

  

  The group said such rhetoric has been repeatedly used by Malay supremacists since independence, and criticised political leaders, including Sanusi, former minister Khairy Jamaluddin, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, accusing them of exploiting racial sentiments for political gain during polls.

  In a statement, it also criticised PAS and Umno, saying the parties previously called for racial unity, while their leaders resort to race-based rhetoric during election campaigns.

  It added that describing Malaysia solely as Tanah Melayu was exclusionary and overlooked Sabah and Sarawak, echoing past criticisms that the two states have been treated as an extension of the peninsula.

  Pusat Komas also urged Malaysians not to allow racial supremacy to influence their voting decisions and called on the police to act against individuals who continue to use divisive racial narratives.

Controversial party

• Malaysia Blockchain Week has said that the Digital Ministry and its minister Gobind Singh Deo had no involvement in its after-party event, which drew controversy for including social media influencer Siew Pui Yi.

  In a statement yesterday, the event organising committee apologised to Gobind and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), adding that all promotional materials for the after-party have been withdrawn.

  

  Explaining that the organisers had independently decided on the after-party, the committee stressed that Malaysia Blockchain Week will continue as scheduled.

  After a hacking incident in 2019, Siew, popularly known as Ms PuiYi, had intimate media of herself leaked online, leading to her monetising the photos on creator platform OnlyFans.

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