“I must say our success as a nation depends on the willingness of the moderates, from all religions and cultures, to set aside their differences and work for a common goal in perpetuating peace, harmony and prosperity,”
DPM Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin
“Perkasa tiada niat langsung mengguris sensitiviti masyarakat Tionghua, kami ikhlas membelanjakan duit meraikan perayaan Tahun Baru Cina,”
Ibrahim Ali, Source here.
The white enveloped Ang Pow faux pas by Ibrahim Ali at a PERKASA CNY function recently had
rightly drawn much criticism from many quarters especially from the Chinese community, but I think some of the criticism is over the top bordering on hysteria to the extent of calling it kurang ajar, some like the DAP will try to make a mountain out of the isolated incident and as usual used it to the fullest for maximum political support read here, by the way the DAP need not sweat too much to kill the MCA as the Chinese support for the DAP is at an all time high, DAP need just to deliver on its promises. Wouldn't it be a lot better to engage Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa and tell them that this is not the right way instead of lambasting and dragging the MCA and the Prime Minister into what is an isolated incident, instead?
I am not defending Ibrahim Ali's action, but I strongly believe he is genuine in giving out the Ang Pow to the Chinese folks who came for the CNY function organised by PERKASA there is no Agenda to "hina" the folks who were invited for makan-makan at the function I am sure of that. Anyway Ibrahim Ali had expressed regret over his actions which many of his political critiques especially the DAP would never do under any circumstances:
Perkasa expresses regret over 'white' ang pow incident
February 1: PETALING JAYA: Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali has expressed regret over the inadvertent distribution of "white" ang pow during its Chinese New Year open house, saying such mistakes could have been avoided if they had known it to be taboo among the Chinese.
He said Perkasa agreed with MCA Youth that it was pertinent to understand the sensitivities of various cultures.
"Now that we understand the sensitivities, we will not repeat the same mistake," he said Wednesday in response to criticism from various quarters against Perkasa for distributing money in white envelopes on Sunday.
Ibrahim also expressed regret that none of the Chinese guests and members of the media who were present that day had alerted Perkasa leaders that it was a taboo to give "white" ang pow during festive occasion.
He said Perkasa also took note of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's comment on the matter.
"It is a lesson for Perkasa to be more careful not to touch on the sensitivities of other races.
"And we also expect others to respect the sensitivities of the Muslims and Malays," he added.
There folks, happy now? The good thing is many lessons on cultural sensitivities of the Chinese Community can be learnt from this episode.
However, we must also remember that this blessed country is home for many other races and religions too and we should also draw lessons of moderation from them especially when reacting to so called violations of sensitive issues like the throwing of pig heads in mosques and suraus all over the country etc. etc. Moderation is the key to our success as a nation. Let us keep it that way please.
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