Why discrepancy in police probes under Sedition Act, asks Kok
Published on: Monday, March 04, 2024
By:
FMT, Lynelle Tham
Teresa Kok said there is inconsistency when initiating police investigations under the Sedition Act.
Kuala Lumpur: A DAP MP has questioned the inconsistent application of the Sedition Act by the police in investigating certain individuals.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok cited instances involving DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and former Damansara MP Tony Pua, who were subjected to police questioning for their respective statements.
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However, she said, the same scrutiny did not apply to Teo Kok Seong, a senior fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s ethnic studies institute, who had criticised vernacular schools and accused Chinese students of looking down on Malays.
Teo was reported to have made such a statement by The Merdeka Times last Wednesday.
“Tan Sri Speaker, I and many members of this Dewan Rakyat attended Chinese schools. Never were we taught to hold disdain for Malays,” Kok said when debating the King’s speech in the Dewan Rakyat today.
“Teo’s statement distorts facts and undermines the relationship between the Malay and Chinese communities.
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“This is sedition. Why hasn’t the police initiated an investigation into this racist and misleading statement?”
In December last year, Lim was summoned by the police to give his statement over comments he made on his blog about whether a non-Malay can become the prime minister.
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Pua was summoned to Bukit Aman for his remarks against the commutation of Najib Razak’s sentence in the SRC International case.
Kok also said the students and teachers in Chinese schools today come from various ethnic backgrounds, citing data from the education ministry.
“In the multiracial environment of Chinese primary schools, how can Chinese students look down on and insult Malays?” she asked.
She urged the higher education ministry to issue a warning against racist statements by lecturers in institutions of higher education and to promote unity, instead.
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