GEORGE TOWN – It is nothing but a personal opinion, said DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke following criticism of Ronnie Liu’s “Chinese-ness” statement.
Responding to the DAP central executive committee member’s remark that the party should not dilute its “Chinese-ness”, Loke said: “We are not a party that restricts our members from giving their opinions, but in terms of agreeing with him, that is a different story.
“There are a few DAP members who have posted on their social media pages, expressing their disagreement with what Ronnie Liu said. For me, it is an internal debate between DAP members.
“That shows DAP is also in a process where there is an internal transformation happening.”
However, he said, leaders need to assure the grassroots that they want to make the party a successful platform that is accepted by more Malaysians.
On the other hand, he said, the stereotype that DAP is a “Chinese chauvinist” is not new.
Loke told the Minda TV Bicara Tokoh interview, organised by the National Professors’ Council, that it is a huge challenge to unite the different races and religions in the country, because the matter is often used as a political tool.
Even former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad held stereotypical views of DAP, he said.
“We worked with him in 2016, and later, we invited him to the DAP annual general meeting, where he was our distinguished guest. As usual, before the event began, we sang the national anthem and the DAP anthem.
Dr Mahathir was shocked because our party anthem was in Malay. This means that in his mind, DAP is a Chinese party, and he assumed that our anthem would be in Chinese, not Malay.
“But the fact is that we were never what he thought we were. We are a multiracial party, a party for Malaysia, a party that supports the Malaysian constitution.” – The Vibes, April 13, 2021
