It occasionally helps to listen to what you’re saying

Much has been said about the whole Ahmad Ismail affair, and rather than to add to a healthy chorus, I’d like to point out a couple of points that may have gone unnoticed.

1. Ahmad Ismail called for the removal of Dr Koh Tsu Koon as Penang Barisan chairman, saying that the position should be given to the MCA. Oddly enough Gerakan, of which Dr Koh is acting president, is a multi-racial party, whereas the MCA is dedicated to those Ahmad Ismail considers “squatters”.
   
   
2. Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz on the DPM’s earlier apology:
   
   
   “I think nobody should belittle his apology.
   It is not easy for a Deputy Prime
   Minister to do that.”
   (The Star, Sept 10: “‘Don’t belittle Najib’s apology’”)
   
   

   First of all, does it mean that the higher up one goes in office, the harder it is to take responsibility for errant actions? And secondly, we don’t belittle him for his apology – what is belittling how little it mattered to a lowly Umno division chief. So in a sense it’s ironic that indeed a “nobody” did indeed “belittle his apology”. And we haven’t even talked about the PM’s original statement that he “didn’t mean it” and that he would “tell him not to say it again”.
   
   
3. I really want someone to ask Ahmad Ismail if he think that the Indians are “squatters” too. And then pass him a large photo of Samyvellu.
   
   
4. “The Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting yesterday was more open and sincere compared to previous meetings as component party leaders discussed the Datuk Ahmad Ismail issue that threatened the coalitions unity,
   said PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas.”
   

   (The Star, Sept. 10: “Kayveas: Everyone spoke up”)
   

   
   So in which circumstances and with which topics are meetings less open and sincere? Say, petrol prices? The Budget? Bar Council forums?
   
   
5. On a similar note to Kayveas’s statement, let’s take a brief excursion to our DPM’s comment on the ethics of sending MPs to Taiwan. For agriculture, kononnya – let’s just pause a moment to think about that. Taiwan. And agriculture.
   
   
   “What is more immoral is trying to buy them over. It is subverting the principles of parliamentary democracy.”
   
   Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (The Star, Sept. 10: "Najib: Expenses borne by BBC".)
   
   
   “More” immoral? So… sending them to Taiwan is only slightly, or somewhat, immoral?
   
   
6. The three year suspension of Ahmad Ismail is a move meant to placate uneasy associations – especially BN component parties. The question is what happens after those three years (which incidentally would end right before the next general election). If Ahmad Ismail is still stubbornly the flag bearer of racist sentiments, would Umno then take him back? And what of the other Penang Umno division heads who condoned and supported those same racist positions? Jeff Ooi's Screenshots mentions something along these lines and (quite rightly) calling for law enforcement to take over now, not three years from now.
   

Nevertheless, on a positive front, the reaction from certain quarters has been interesting – showing that this is a time for moderate, progressive Malays to make their presence felt. Take Jeneral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal for example: “I would like to propose to the Government to take stern action against those who raise racial issues.” (The Star, Sept. 10: “Jen: Act against those who raise racial issues.”) While I think the point is that it’s those who raise racist and not just racial issues, the more important message is that the general is asking the Government to allow the enforcement arms – like the police and the army – to take action. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the general was asking permission to shoot a particular person who’s shooting his mouth off.

Metaphorically speaking, of course...