by Ragesh Kumar Lingam
Malaysiakini
Apr 24, 2013
Malaysia is known as a multi-racial country and we have been promoting that ever since independence.
The current prime minister has long called for nambikei (trust) from the Indian community for BN.
My question is on BN’s decision to field Zulkifli Noordin as BN’s candidate for the Shah Alam Parliament seat.
Zulkifli is well known for his racist remarks towards Indians especially to the Hindus in Malaysia.
This has been proven and everyone is well aware of this. Although we understand he has apologised, what does it matter now.
Even in sports such as football, Fifa has supported zero tolerance for racism. Why can’t we do the same in Malaysia for politicians?
There should be zero tolerance when it comes to racism no matter if the person is from ruling or opposition party, male or female.
By nominating Zulkifli, BN has killed the nambikei they have promised to the Indian community.
Respect towards any religion in Malaysia is everyone’s responsibility and by choosing Zulkifli, BN has sent a wrong message to everyone.
The way I see it, the ruling government has shown and will continue to show tolerance for racism.
I am working in an American company and there is zero tolerance for racism in my company. I have seen this emphasised in several cases in my company.
When a company can implement this, a country’s ruling party is sending a wrong message on racism if it doesn’t do so.
MIC on the other hand is hopeless on this when normal citizens like me take this more seriously than them.
Forgive and forget is good in other aspects but not when it comes to racism.
As a Malaysian, I am ashamed on the decision to field Zulkifli as a BN candidate. The coalition called BN does not represent the name the way I see.
At the same time, I challenge MIC to walk out of BN if you fail to remove Zulkifli as BN candidate.
If your request for “nambikai” is true, walk your talk.