Penang MCA severs ties with Ahmad

KULAI, Sept 9 — Penang Umno stalwart Datuk Ahmad Ismail and his supporters yesterday lashed out at criticism of his remarks about Chinese “squatters” as the swirling controversy continued unabated.

Penang MCA said it was severing all ties with him and all the Umno divisions that supported him until the issue was resolved.

Separately, the outgoing MCA chief also decried any move to “sweep under the carpet” the Chinese contribution to Malaysia's development.

Speaking a day after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had urged Malaysians to stop raising racially sensitive issues, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting urged the ruling Barisan Nasional, of which the MCA is a major component, to come up with an amicable solution that would be acceptable to all.

He warned that wounds “left unattended” do not heal, The Star reported. The Chinese are angry “because the ancestors of the community had sacrificed for the country even before the country's independence”, he said.

“We worked hard together with other communities for the country for many decades. The country's success today has been achieved with the blood, sweat and tears of all the communities,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.

Ahmad's remarks that the Chinese are “immigrants” in the country “who do not deserve equal rights” had sparked days of angry rhetoric.

The Umno division chief reportedly made the remarks while campaigning during the Permatang Pauh by-election last month but he has since maintained that he was quoted out of context and has refused to apologise.

Yesterday, Penang MCA chief Liow Tiong Lai said the Chinese community felt “angry, offended and disappointed” by Ahmad's “arrogance” in not withdrawing his statement.

Liow also expressed disappointment with the Prime Minister for changing his stand after earlier asking the Umno official to apologise.

“Such remarks have caused Chinese voters to lose their confidence in BN, and MCA becomes the victim,” he said.

Ahmad, who was asked by Abdullah to hold a press conference to defuse the situation yesterday, instead was unrepentant, shifting the blame for the furore onto Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and calling on BN to expel the party from the coalition.

Ahmad's supporters tore up a picture of Koh and engaged in a shouting match with reporters after their leader had spoken, according to The Malaysian Insider website.

Reading from a prepared statement, the Umno leader defended his decision not to apologise for his remarks, and repeated his stand that he had been quoted out of context by a Chinese daily.

He put the blame for mounting racial tensions squarely on the shoulders of Koh, whom he accused of being a good actor who was instigating the Chinese.

He also said the patience of the Malays had its limits, according to The Malaysian Insider. He was quoted as saying: “I want to appeal to the Chinese not to become like the Jews in America. It is not enough they control the economy, now they want political control.”