KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of the Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has urged Malaysians of all strata not to fall for the ploy of those who are playing up the repatriation of the remains of communist leader Chin Peng.
Its president Tan Sri T.C Goh also hoped that the government would take appropriate measures to prevent this matter from being further manipulated and politicized by those devious individuals, either to satisfy their misguided ego or, to achieve their politically-motivated agenda.
“We in Huazong fully support the prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir’s call urging all quarters to be at ease and get over the issue. There’s no need to stir up something which happened so long ago which we have no control of.
“Although history cannot be erased, it nonetheless remains a fact that the Community Party of Malaysia (CPM) had long given up their armed struggle, and is no longer a threat to the country,” said Goh in a statement issued on Friday.
He noted that since the surrender of CPM more than 30 years ago following the signing of the Hat Yai Peace Accord on 2 December, 1989, effectively ended more than 40 years of communist insurgency in the country. The government of Malaysia later allowed many CPM members to return to Malaysia to spend their remaining years.
Goh who is also the president of the Federation of Chinese Associations of Sabah (FCAS) also believed the repatriation of Chin Peng’s remains back to Malaysia was stirred up by a certain quarters because he is a Chinese, and this obviously suited well their racist political agenda.
The obvious presence of the racist element was even acknowledged by Dr Mahathir who during an interview with the media in South Korea, noted that Malaysia had in the past allowed other CPM members like Shamsiah Fakeh and Rashid Maidin to return and no one complained, perhaps because they are Malays.
Goh thus reiterated Huazong’s recent call urging the government to establish a Special Committee to tackle race and religious extremism issues which are affecting the non-Muslim communities in the country.
“The time has come for the government of the day to do the right things to protect the minorities in this country, to prevent them from being treated as an ‘easy target’ or ‘a convenient punching bag’. We believe this is what a majority of moderate, right-thinking Malaysians aspired for in a New Malaysia!” he concluded.-pr/BNN
