MCA has urged Malaysians to boycott Utusan Malaysia over its editors call for a '1Melayu, 1bumi' movement, which the party argued was legitimising racial discrimination.

Party deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok said that the 1Melayu, 1bumi concept advocated by the Umno-owned newspaper was an attempt to punish the Chinese for exercising their democratic rights to choose during elections.

In a statement written in Mandarin issued late yesterday evening, Loh ( left ) said all conscientious Malaysians should boycott the newspaper and accelerate Utusan Malaysia 's already plunging circulation numbers.

"The newspaper's position is perverting the Najib administration's 1Malaysia concept and instilling evil thoughts among the public. This outdated concept will be condemned by the international community.

"Does Utusan Malaysia want to emulate South Africa and (early) United States of America which practised apartheid and racial segregation ?" he said.

Reiterating points he raised in a statement on Thursday morning, Loh said that Utusan Malaysia must be reminded that the BN comprises 13 component parties , representing various communities and thus '1Melayu, 1bumi' does not augur well for the coalition.

Most importantly, if the newspaper wants to win the respect of everyone, they should be committed to the 1Malaysia concept and help bridge the differences among the various communities, he said.

Will Soi Lek challenge Utusan?

Loh's statement came several hours after DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng called on MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek to pressure Umno into censuring Utusan Malaysia for the article.

"Just do it Chua! Tell Umno to direct its newspaper to withdraw the '1Melayu, 1bumi' movement or MCA (should) withdraw from the BN," said Lim in a statement today.

"Any failure by Chua to do so would show that he is a man who dares to admit his fault, dares to speak out and dares to walk the talk is just empty sandiwara devoid of substance."

Lim said ( right ) that Utusan Malaysia was trying to "racialise" the results of the polls, despite the fact that the DAP was able to garner support from all communities based on the voting data, to gloss over the real reasons for BN losses.

"However , in order to hide the real reasons for their loss, namely corruption and demands for Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down, Umno and Utusan Malaysia are pitting the results as conflict between the Chinese community and the government."

Yesterday, Najib Abdul Razak distanced himself from the newspaper's article while Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the '1Melayu, 1bumi' movement would be a " disaster ".