After riding roughshod over virtually everyone, has outspoken “no fear, no surrender” Dr Akmal Saleh finally found his nemesis in DAP’s Nga Kor Ming?
There is no doubt that firebrand UMNO Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh is not one who pulls his punches when it comes to “defending” his race and religion; in fact, he has portrayed himself to be a “champion” many times, including in the latest feud with leaders of his own Barisan Nasional component party – MCA!!
For the record, last week matters came to a head after Akmal had openly slammed MCA over the proposed liquor sales ban in some Muslim-majority areas in Perak which the party had opposed; this episode seemed to have hurt the good ties between the two BN component parties.
Then responding to a comment by the party’s vice-president Tan Teik Cheng who had urged the Russia-trained doctor to reflect on why he was disliked by non-Malays who viewed him negatively, Akmal had retorted: “We defend our religion and race not because we want people to like us… but because of our responsibility to protect the purity of our religion and race!”
This was after Tan, the Penang MCA chairman, had earlier reprimanded the vocal Merlimau state assemblyman for threatening to sue the party’s Johor deputy publicity chief Law Yiak Kwang for allegedly alluding to him as a “crazy Malay” or "crazy horse" in a social media post.
The furious Akmal then went on to warn “loyal buddies” MCA that if ever they touched (on his religion) he will fight them all the way! But what may be puzzling to the public is: why must the hot-tempered young doctor always have to adopt such an aggressive and confrontational approach even against his own political allies? Where's the diplomacy?
Incidentally, while clashes between his party and MCA is quite rare, the UMNO youth chief’s fiery exchanges with DAP leaders since the inception of the unity government has already attained “legendary” status; this includes his much-publicised verbal spat with senior DAP politician Teresa Kok last year over the “proposed” halal-certification for food establishments in the country - including for those owned by non-Muslims!
Meanwhile, another of his memorable duels in the name of “race and religion” must be the one with DAP strongman Nga Kor Ming over the then-proposed listing of Chinese “new villages” as UNESCO world heritage sites; this is despite the fact that those “historic” settlements set up by the British colonialists to counter the communist insurgency may appear to have no direct links with Malays or Islam!
Then, last year, at the height of the “Allah socks” controversy the two fearless “gladiators” had also crossed swords, with Akmal lashing out at Nga, and even labelling him as “dumb” after the latter had blamed the boycott campaign against KK Mart, led by the UMNO youth chief, for being one of the causes of the country's weak economy.
More recently, there was also the furore over the “ham” sandwich sold in a local public university where the DAP vice-chairman had made a veiled reference to Akmal for allegedly assuming that “ham” was actually pork; it turned out that the real issue was actually the unapproved “halal logo” on the sandwich packaging – it had little to do with the contentious “ham” which was actually “chicken meat!”
Following the uproar, Nga had then asserted that DAP would not remain silent in the face of provocations from Akmal; nevertheless, he said that he will not engage in any arguments with the vocal Umno Youth chief but warned that for every statement made by the latter, the DAP youth wing will respond “tenfold!”
More trouble for the Madani government on the horizon…?
Nga’s statement may be the strongest yet issued by a senior DAP leader, and it may have raised questions as to whether such unhealthy tit-for-tat between Madani coalition members will have broader implications on the stability of Anwar’s government going forward.
Significantly, it may have also underscored the critical need for party leaders in the ruling coalition to show restraint and tolerance when treading on sensitive issues relating to race and religion, and if possible, to raise such hot button issues internally through the Cabinet.
Does every race and religion in this country really need a “champion”…?
The inevitable truth is that, given human nature, if one party keeps attacking and insulting others at every opportunity on the pretext of defending its race and religion, sooner or later won't the aggrieved party be compelled to retaliate?
After all, even in politics there is such a thing as dignity, which perhaps, MCA has finally realised after decades of subservience to its “big boss” in BN; as for DAP, having been a combative opposition force for so long, shouldn't “biting back” at its enemies be second nature to it - as what Nga had demonstrated recently?
Main information source: WOB, Focus Malaysia, NST, FMT and Malay Mail
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