Following the red shirt rally on Sept 16, a MCA leader has reminded Umno not to get “carried away with race rhetoric” at its general assembly (AGM) scheduled for December.

“In view of the coming Umno general assembly, I urge Umno colleagues not to be carried away with racial rhetoric merely to score political mileage when delivering their speeches.

“This is to prevent racial harmony being destroyed, or the Federal Constitution being contravened when freedom of speech is abused and thus mars racial integration,” MCA senator Chai Kim Sen said in a statement today.

This, Chai said, was in light of Umno’s failure to come down hard on red shirts frontman and Umno Sungai Besar division chairperson Jamal Md Yunos for his demand that 50 percent of the Petaling Street stalls be allocated to Malay traders or a riot would takes place there tomorrow.

“Unfortunately, Umno members did not immediately rebuke him, nor take timely measures to convince the rakyat,” said Chai, who is MCA publicity bureau chairperson.

“In the forthcoming Umno AGM, the rakyat is concerned as to whether, once again, delegates may spew racist-tinged remarks,” he added.

'Deal with racists'

Chai called on Umno leaders at both the central and divisional levels to show “consideration for all Malaysians” and ensure members and leaders “will not descend to extremism, which can harm racial harmony in our society”.

“Any damage to ethnic relations, as well as the violation of the BN spirit and the Federal Constitution, must be condemned and dealt with.

“The demeanour of the leaders must be consistent,” he said.

“Actions or verbal slurs which that breach the BN spirit must be swiftly dealt with,” Chai added.

The Sept 16 rally by pro-Najib supporters to counter what they claimed was a Chinese-initiated Bersih 4 rally in August has been widely criticised for its overtly racial tone.

Jamal has been at the forefront in calling for the rally, initially dubbed ‘Himpunan Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu ’, targeted at what they called Kuala Lumpur’s “Chinese” areas of Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street.

Although the rally was eventually renamed ‘Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu’ to fend off allegations of racism, the call for the defence of Malay supremacy remained the hallmark of the rally that even earned Prime Minister Najib Razak’s praise .

However, Jamal has continued his crusade against Chinese traders, warning of a riot tomorrow if the Malay demands are not met.