“Have Umno leaders ever complained about “communist ideology” even though their party is said to have enjoyed ties with the Communist Party of China (CPC) for many years?”
It looks like Umno and DAP are at each other’s throats once again, which is nothing to scream about actually, considering they have been at it virtually since the dawn of time; only that this time, somewhat bizarrely, the clash seems to be over a comic book!
The matter came to a head last week after it was reported that home minister Saifuddin Nasution had lifted the ban imposed on the controversial comic book co-authored by the firebrand former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau, titled “Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism”; the book was initially banned in October 2019 for allegedly promoting communism when current opposition stalwart Muhyiddin Yassin was the home minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan government under Dr Mahathir!
As expected, the government’s decision to lift the ban on the book drew almost instant fire from outspoken Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi and the party’s fiery youth wing chief Dr Akmal Saleh who strongly protested the move.
Their action then got on the nerves of DAP Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh and the party’s vice-chairman Teresa Kok who urged the duo to respect the court's decision which ruled that the book does not contain any seditious content as alleged in the sworn statement by the home minister back in 2019.
For the record, in July 2022, upon filing of an appeal by Hew against the ban, the Court of Appeal had ruled that the book in question should not be classified as a prohibited book, while in December 2022, the Federal Court also rejected the Home Ministry's appeal and ordered him to seek compensation from the government.
Teresa then pointed out that Akmal and Puad should respect the country’s judicial independence and court rulings and not pressure the government to violate court orders.
Not surprisingly, a pumped up Dr Akmal shot back at the DAP vice-chairman insisting that the government must file a judicial review against the decision; this is because, according to him, the matter is sensitive to the Malays who are the majority race in the country - and that he was even willing to explain the matter to her in Mandarin, if she did not understand!
Meanwhile, the straight-talking Puad, who is also the Johor state assembly speaker urged Putrajaya to maintain the ban, alleging that the comic book spread communism and glorified the late Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng.
Commenting on the uproar over the book sparked by those Umno leaders, acclaimed investigative journalist R. Nadeswaran appeared to have nailed it when he asked candidly: “having established diplomatic relations with (communist) China 50 years ago promoting trade, education and culture, what are the Umno leaders complaining now about the former DAP activist Hew’s comic book?”
Not mincing words, the no-nonsense veteran newsman then went on to question: “what about Umno leaders sending their children to China for tertiary education? And what about the (China-based) Xiamen university in Selangor… or the Chinese nationals working on the ECRL? Won’t they all be spreading the same (communist) ideology?”
He also concluded that the outcry had little to do with hurting Malay sensitivities as was claimed by Dr Akmal or glorifying communism as was alleged by Puad; according to him it was about politics - with the Umno general assembly just around the corner and the party elections in 2026!
The truth is the controversial comic book was mainly intended to promote China's well-publicised Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an ambitious mega-plan by Beijing to invest in infrastructure development worldwide, and it was actually published to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.
However, perhaps unfairly, the book also takes potshots at disgraced ex-premier Najib Razak, mocking him for the infamous 1MDB scandal and his controversial goods and services tax (GST); furthermore, it is said to portray the ex-Umno president as one who “buys” votes and “exploits” China's investments in the country; moreover, it also takes a dig at his wife Rosmah Mansor for her alleged excesses!
Considering all that, should it surprise anyone that the loudest noise from the Umno camp over the lifting of the ban on the contentious comic book, didn’t actually come from its top leaders, especially those holding important posts in the unity government or even its grassroots - but rather from some of Najib’s own die-hard supporters?
Information source: MCA.org, FMT, NST, Malaysiakini and Malaysia Now
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