KUALA LUMPUR: After criticism for alleged racist remarks against Chinese businessmen, agriculture minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has now turned the attack against the DAP, saying “the biggest father of all racist people in Malaysia is the DAP”.
He now says the controversy over rising prices is a political battle for public support, rather than one of racism.
“I look at this politically. When the price of petrol and goods go up, the one who benefits is the opposition. When the price of petrol and goods go down, Barisan Nasional (BN) should get the benefit because we were the ones who lowered it,” he had said in Hulu Kelang on Friday night, in remarks quoted by the Malaysian Insider.
“But we don’t get any benefits. In fact, we are condemned for failing to reduce the price. So the best option is to use consumer power.”
He said his remarks on a conversial Facebook posting, now deleted, were not aimed at Chinese businessmen, and he accused the opposition parties of using consumer prices for making political capital.
This morning, on a visit to a farmers’ market in Taman Melawati, he returned to the theme of racism and the DAP.
“When the prices of goods don’t go down, DAP will use that to manipulate the rakyat,” he said. “We know the true face of DAP… the biggest father of all racist people in Malaysia is the DAP. When the prices don’t go down, the opposition, DAP, PAS and others, use this situation to blame the government. This means that the goods that do not drop in price are used to the advantage of the opposition and manipulated by them to blame the government,” he said.
Last night, he had dodged taking a stand about another Facebook page urging Malays to boycott products and businesses by so-called “DAP Chinese” (Boikot Barangan Cina DAP ORI), which gives a list of products and businesses to be shunned in favour of goods produced by their own community.
He said he was not responsible for the page and it was up to consumers to interpret his message as they wished, the Malaysian Insider reported. “The person doing the boycott is the consumer. I only gave my advice on what should be done with consumer power. That’s all. The details, the goods they want to boycott, is not from me.”
The intention of his call for a boycott was to protect everyone from profiteering middlemen, he said. Many farmers and fishermen were too comfortable with relying on middlemen, he said, and his ministry was trying to help them deal directly with consumers.
