Samy Vellu downplays BTN man’s alleged slurs
Samy Vellu insisted the Hamim’s racist slurs were not reflective of the government’s position. — file pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu dismissed today the racist remarks allegedly made by a National Civics Bureau (BTN) official during a Puteri Umno function as the utterances of a “minority parasite.”
Samy Vellu claimed that the racist remarks reportedly made by the bureau’s deputy director Hamim Husain did not reflect the views or position of the Najib administration.
Hamim had on Monday been reported as having referred to the Chinese and Indian community as “si mata sepet” and “si botol” respectively when asking Puteri Umno members to co-operate with the non-Malay communities to garner votes for Barisan Nasional.
“The ‘si mata sepet’ that has never gone to a mosque or surau only has one vote. The ‘si botol’ that only knows how to go up to Batu Caves up and down only has one vote,” Hamim reportedly told the closed-door gathering.
Today, Samy Vellu said that Hamim’s remarks did not “pose a major threat” to the country and that he should just be “ignored.”
“They are what we call the minority parasites. It is just the views of one individual. Of course, the fact that he is a senior government officer makes it a very serious matter, but we should not assume that his views reflect the government’s stand,” said the long-serving MIC president in a statement today.
In an attempt to distance the Najib administration from the BTN representative’s recent actions, Samy Vellu claimed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept did not endorse or recognise Hamim’s brand of racism.
“We have protection against these parasites in the form of Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his 1 Malaysia concept. There is definitely no room for bigots in this country, and certainly they are not part of 1 Malaysia. They must be isolated so that their species will not mutate,” added the MIC stalwart.
Yesterday, the DAP and MCA had demanded that Hamim be immediately punished.
DAP has pushed for an immediate dissolution of the BTN and the discontinuation of its courses while MCA wants the bureau, which comes under the Prime Minister’s Department, to be overhauled.
The BTN, a state agency charged with running courses on patriotism for civil servants and undergraduates, came under fire last year for promoting racism.
The Najib administration had promised a revamp of BTN’s courses following widespread public outcry.
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