Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan has become the "face" of the controversial goods and services tax (GST) and by default, the punching bag for all.
His constant defence of the new tax and admonishment of critics, including former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have drawn brickbats.
But today, the deputy minister chose to focus on the racial riots that took place on this date, 46 years ago.
In a tweet, Ahmad hoped that such an incident would never recur.
"Today is May 13. In 1969, I was three-years-old. We hope and pray that the bloody episode ( peristiwa berdarah ) never happens again," he said.
Hari ini 13 Mei. Pada thn 1969 umur saya baru 3 thn. Kita berharap & berdoa agar peristiwa berdarah itu tidak akan berulang selama-lamanya.
— Ahmad Maslan (@ahmadmaslan)
May 13, 2015
However, the deputy minister came under fire from some twitter users for raising this issue while others mocked him over the GST and current administration.
Nazri_fahmi tweeted that the incident could recur if the current leadership continues to turn its back on the people.
'Most hated man'
Whereas user @bullet_gov said May 13 would not happen again if there are excellent ministers, but "if we get those (ministers) who are ' bangang (stupid)', there would be chaos in the country".
User @cikkaikazie said there is no need to wait for another May 13 ' peristiwa berdarah (bloody episode)' as the new ' peristiwa darah ' is April 1 - the date when GST was implemented.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Maslan told Oriental Daily that he is now Malaysia's "most hated man", lamenting that some netizens have even likened his face to "pig feces".
Previously, the deputy minister told reporters that he forgave those who hurled insults at him but remained firm that GST is good for the nation.
In a related development, the discontent towards Ahmad has now taken the form of an Android game called 'Maslan 3.85 extended version'.
The objective of the game is to shoot dead zombies that look similar to the deputy minister.
The deputy minister, however, appeared unfazed and even pointed out that Maslan is not his name.
"Yes, I am aware of it. I would like to reiterate that Maslan is not my name. My name is Ahmad bin Maslan.
"They (the game developers) do not even know me. Main bantai saja (Simply making things up).
"I do not care about the game. What is important is that I know the GST is better than the Sales and Services Tax," Ahmad told Star Online .
