Utusan: Where Were The Non-Malays?
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- Published on Thursday, 02 January 2014 16:06
Pic : Free Malaysia TodayPETALING JAYA: Where were all the non-Malays when thousands gathered in Dataran Merdeka on the night of New Year’s Eve to protest against the looming price hike?
This was the question Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia posed today, after weeks of claiming the anti-price hike rally was an attempt to topple the government through violent means.
“The saddest part is that most of the street thugs that night (of the rally) were Malays.
There were very few other races,” the editors of the daily Malay broadsheet wrote through the pseudonym Awang Selamat.
“So Awang’s question is, where were the other races when in fact it was they who supported and encouraged the protest through social media?
“The actions and way of thinking of the Malays are very confusing,” Awang wrote in its column, Bisik-Bisik, published today.
But despite his question, there have been no official reports that the estimated 15,000 rally-goers mostly comprised Malays.
Instead, media reports have only stated that the majority of the protestors were youths and tertiary students, lead by organiser Gerakan Turun Kos Sara Hidup.
Awang said he was also “saddened” and “nauseated” by the manner in which the protest was carried out, zeroing in on how the participants had breached barricades, took over the performance stage, and looted food and drinks.
He noted the irony in the fact that while the rally-goers had protested against rising prices and wastages, “their leader” Lim Guan Eng had unveiled his new vehicle, the Mercedes Benz S300L.
“Their methods are disgusting. They have all been duped by certain hidden quarters,” wrote Awang.
But for Utusan, the demonising of the price hike rally did not stop at Awang’s column.
The Malay daily had included in today’s paper a “factsheet” which referred to the gathering as “Rally to Topple Government”, despite the fact that the rally organisers have maintained that that was not the rally’s name.
According to Utusan’s factsheet “violence and misbehavior by participants of Rally to Topple Government”, the number one reason for the illegal gathering was to overthrow the government.
This contradicted media reports that student leaders had, in their speeches on the night of the rally, reiterated multiple times how the event was not to oust the government, but to air dissatisfaction over the rising cost of living.
Mohamed Bukhairy Sofian, chairman of student movement Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) which was the rally’s co-organiser, had also insisted last Friday that the gathering was not to remove BN.
Besides spreading misinformation, Utusan sought to downplay the impact of the rally by highlighting the lukewarm response it received in other states such as Kedah, Kelantan, Sarawak and Perak.
It also interviewed two taxi drivers and two shop operators to highlight how the rally was “uncivilized and troublesome.”
“We in Malaysia should be grateful because we get to live in peace, and this is far better than the situation in other countries,” taxi driver V Sukumaran was quoted as saying.
“What did we gain from last night’s rally? There is nothing to be proud of, apart from the fact that it only causes trouble for many quarters, especially taxi drivers and business owners.”
The protest was planned in response to a slew of government announcements regarding various increases in the price of goods of services, which will be implemented this year following petrol and subsidy slashes.
The price hikes encompass electricity tariff, KL assessment tax rates, toll charges, and public transport.
Police yesterday announced that it had set up a special taskforce to probe the illegal gathering, and would complete investigation papers within a week.
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