Syed Saddiq’s sarcastic take on anti-Kit Siang contest
PPBM Youth leader says he wants to take part in the contest and donate RM50,000 prize money to Kelantan football team.
KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) Youth leader Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has given a sarcastic response to an essay-writing contest mooted by Umno on whether DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang is racist.
Syed Saddiq said he would like to enter the contest to highlight a list of alleged malpractices — all of which reportedly implicate Barisan Nasional (BN) figures — that he mockingly said must have all been done by Lim.
He said he would take up the challenge initiated by Umno information chief Annuar Musa for the best essay or social media posting on the subject “LKS (Lim Kit Siang) is a racist, anti-Islam and a dictator for 51 years, is it true?”
“There is high hope for me to get the RM50,000 (prize money) promised,” he said in a statement.
“In fact, I intend to contribute the RM50,000 to the Kelantan football team and also to help students of UniKL and Mara.”
Syed Saddiq said he was not surprised that Annuar could afford to offer the RM50,000 prize to the winner, saying Annuar had before this shown his efficiency in managing the Kelantan Football Association, also known as The Red Warriors (TRW).
Annuar, who was Mara chairman until his suspension on Jan 31, has been investigated over the use of funds from two Mara subsidiaries to sponsor the Kelantan football team when he was its president.
Annuar was accused of having used his influence as Mara chairman to get Pelaburan Mara Berhad and UniKL to sponsor the Kelantan football team. The revelation came about after a verbal spat between Annuar and Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.
Syed Saddiq praised Annuar for “caring” for the welfare of the students. “The Mara scholarships to help pursue further studies overseas and to fund UniKL students, which was terminated, proves his efficiency in managing his duties.
“Maybe this was a step forward for him to extract writing talents from the Malaysian public.”
On a serious note, Syed Saddiq said he held Lim to be a “fellow Malaysian”.
“To me, he is my fellow Malaysian. Even before I joined the opposition, I have always stayed away from the politics of mislabelling someone ‘Anti-Malay/Anti-Islam’, etc.
“Instead of labelling someone, I prefer to confront them with arguments and deal with the issue head-on. I don’t need to hide behind a ‘label’ to succeed in forwarding my argument.
“I might disagree with Lim Kit Siang on some issues, but never will I call him an ‘anti-Malay’. He is my fellow Malaysian.”
He then gave a long list of so-called “allegations” of heavy-handedness and misdemeanours, sarcastically saying they were all done by Lim and that he would highlight them in his essay.
“He was the one, with the help of DAP, who increased allocations for religious schools in Penang, a far cry from (what was done by) the pro-people Umno-BN government,” he said in reference to the policy of the DAP-led Penang government.
The other “wrongdoings” by Lim, which in reality implicate other figures, listed by Syed Saddiq included declaring emergency in Kelantan in 1977 to seize control of the state from PAS; producing the “vulgar” movie Wolf on Wall Street at the cost of RM440 million; paying gambling debts of RM57 million in Las Vegas with public money; rejecting student allocations for Mara and the Public Service Department; reducing allocations for public universities; imposing the goods and services tax, and withdrawing subsidies on basic goods that led people to bear a bigger burden.
Kit Siang: Essay contest perfect example of gutter politics by Umno
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