TIDAK WAJAR KUAN YEW DAKWA
CINA MALAYSIA DIPINGGIR – NAJIB

BANGI 21 September 2006: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak menyelar dakwaan bekas Perdana Menteri Singapura, Lee Kuan Yew bahawa orang Cina di Indonesia dan Malaysia dipinggirkan secara sistematik dan menganggap kenyataan itu sebagai ‘nakal’, tidak wajar dan tidak diperlukan.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri menegaskan, Kuan Yew tahu luahan pendapat itu boleh melibatkan implikasi politik di Malaysia dan Indonesia.

“Saya tidak tahu apa muslihatnya tetapi ia adalah satu kenyataan yang tidak perlu dilakukan.

“Ia tidak dihargai langsung,’’ katanya pada sidang akhbar sempena Majlis Pelancaran dan Penyampaian Bantuan ASB Sejahtera di sini hari ini.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas laporan berita Jumaat lalu mengenai kenyataan Kuan Yew pada forum sempena mesyuarat Bank Dunia- Dana Kewangan Antarabangsa (IMF) di Singapura.

Kuan Yew yang merupakan pengasas Parti Tindakan Rakyat (PAP) berkata, Singapura memerlukan kerajaan yang memiliki keberanian dan kemahiran mengatakan ‘tidak’ kepada negara-negara jirannya yang lebih besar dan didominasi penduduk beragama Islam.

Menteri Mentor itu memberitahu, Indonesia dan Malaysia yang mempunyai masalah dengan golongan Cina yang bekerja keras dan berjaya meminggirkan mereka secara sistematik.

Kedua-dua negara itu, kata Kuan Yew, mahu Singapura menjadi seperti orang Cina, iaitu pak turut.

Najib menegaskan, kenyataan itu tidak tepat sama sekali kerana Malaysia tidak pernah mengamalkan apa-apa usaha meminggirkan golongan bukan bumiputera dalam negara.

Kerajaan juga, katanya, tidak pernah mengamalkan sebarang dasar menyekat peluang golongan bukan bumiputera untuk mara ke hadapan.

“Apa yang ada ialah usaha mengimbangi antara bumiputera dan bukan bumiputera supaya kaum bumiputera tidak jauh sangat ketinggalan kerana mereka pun masih lagi ketinggalan pada waktu ini.

“Apa yang hendak kita capai ialah satu bentuk masyarakat lebih adil dan saksama,’’ tegasnya.
Ditanya sama ada sebarang protes diplomatik akan dibuat terhadap Singapura, Najib berkata:“Saya tidak tahu, terpulang kepada Kabinet untuk menentukannya.’’

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2006&dt=0922&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka_Hadapan&pg=mh_02.htm


KUAN YEW'S COMMENTS
MISLEADING, SAYS NAJIB

BANGI: Malaysia yesterday ticked off Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for saying that Malaysian Chinese were being marginalised systemically.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak described the statement as naughty, adding: "I do not know his real motive but his comment is something that should not have been made in the first place. It is a comment that we can do without and is not appreciated at all. It is not accurate, has political impact and is very misleading."

Lee told a forum in Singapore last Friday that it was vital for Singapore to stand up to its bigger neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"We need a government that will have the gumption and skill to say no to our neighbours in a very quiet and polite way that does not provoke them into doing something silly."

Lee was also quoted as saying that the attitude of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia towards Singapore was shaped by the way they treat their own ethnic Chinese minorities.

"Our neighbours both have problems with their Chinese. They are successful. They are hardworking and, therefore, they are systematically marginalised."

Indonesia and Malaysia "want Singapore, to put it simply, to be like their Chinese — compliant", Lee said.

Najib said the government had no intention to sideline or marginalise non-Bumiputeras.

The government, he added, had never adopted a policy which aimed at hindering the progress of the non-Bumiputeras as all it wanted was nothing but fairness and equal distribution of wealth for all races.

He said it would be up to the Cabinet to make a stand on the matter.

– NST 22 Septembr 2006.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/Frontpage/20060922080750/Article/index_html
Friday September 22, 2006

LEE’S COMMENT ‘NAUGHTY’

BANGI: Malaysia can do without scathing comments from its neighbours, especially if the statements made are inaccurate and have political implications, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said that a recent statement made by former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on the status of the Chinese community in Malaysia and Indonesia was seen as “naughty.”

“I do not know the reason he made such a statement but it should not have been made at all. It’s a comment that we can do without and it is not appreciated at all,” he said after launching and presenting the Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) Sejahtera aid to the hardcore poor yesterday.

On Sept 15, Reuters quoted Lee, who is Minister Mentor for the island republic, as saying it was vital for the predominantly ethnic Chinese state to stand up to its bigger, majority Muslim neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Lee, who was speaking at a forum on the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund meetings, had also said the attitude of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia towards Singapore was shaped by the way they treated their own ethnic Chinese minorities.

Lee had said that Singapore’s neighbours had problems with their Chinese communities because they were successful and hardworking and “therefore, they are systematically marginalised.”

Najib said Lee’s comment, apart from having political implication, was also not accurate and did not represent the actual scenario in the country.

“We do not sideline the non-bumiputra in this country. What are in place are efforts to create a balance between the bumiputra and the non-bumiputra,'' he added.

Asked if Malaysia would send a diplomatic note to protest Lee’s statement, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “I don’t know about that. It is up to Cabinet to decide.”
- The Star 22 September 2006