Kausikan says names will not change reality in response to jibes

KUALA LUMPUR — Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large Bilahari Kausikan has sought to draw a line under a war of words between him and Malaysian opposition lawmaker Tony Pua this week, saying that he does not care “if it makes Mr Pua feel better to call me and Singapore names” but it will not change reality. Mr Kausikan’s comments yesterday (Oct 10) came as another Malaysian opposition politician waded into the debate, calling the envoy a “smart alec and Ugly Singaporean”.

Mr Kausikan said: “Some people have asked me why I have not given a more robust reply to Mr Pua’s rude comments about me and Singapore in general. Well, those of you who know me personally should know that I am not generally a gentle person. But in this case I thought that Mr Pua’s crudity speaks for itself more tellingly than anything I could have written.”

Mr Pua had called Mr Kausikan a “mercenary prick” last Friday.

In a blog post yesterday, the Malaysian leader of opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), Lim Kit Siang, criticised the envoy for having “the impertinence to prescribe how citizens in other countries should conduct themselves”.

“It is unfortunate that Ugly Singaporeans like (Mr Kausikan) are … continuing to spread the ‘delusion’ that Malaysian politics is a battle between Malays and Chinese when it is increasingly about issues of freedom, justice, the rule of law and good governance,” wrote the DAP parliamentary leader.

Mr Lim’s comments came after Mr Kausikan had argued in a commentary last Tuesday that Malaysia’s Chinese youth have forgotten the lessons from the 1969 racial riots and are “delusional” in their perceived attempt to change a system built around the principle of Malay dominance.

Singapore’s former Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs also warned that should they succeed in bringing in a new system, it will only lead to even more rigorous enforcement of Malay dominance with less space for non-Muslims.

In response to Mr Kausikan’s commentary, Mr Pua and various other DAP lawmakers argued that attendees at an anti-government rally organised by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 in August — believed to be attended mostly by Chinese — were there purely to demand accountability from the government and not to pursue racial dominance.

Mr Kausikan observed that based on comments by Mr Pua’s and other DAP lawmakers over the past week, the Malaysian opposition politicians were demonstrating a pattern of idealism that was not grounded in reality.

“If an erstwhile political leader deceives himself and his followers into chasing an impossible dream and so leads them into disaster, that can only be called irresponsible. I would not care very much, except that the particular species of disaster that may befall Malaysia on its present trajectory cannot but to a greater or lesser degree also affect Singapore. So we must understand what is going on across the causeway and prepare ourselves the best we can,” wrote the envoy. AGENCIES