Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin did not apologise for his UMNO youth threats to burn down the DAP headquarters, said Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming.
Ong, who refused to accept the private apology of the Youth and Sports Minister that was sent via text to him, highlighted today that the text did not address the UMNO Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory (KLFT) Youth Chief Razlan Rafii’s threat to burn down the building on 22 May.
“His failure to apologize, even in private, for the threats issued by UMNO FTKL Youth Chief Razlan Rafii to burn down the DAP headquarters and for the gangster-like behaviour of the UMNO KLFT Youth leaders and members is unbecoming of a Youth Leader who talks a good talk when facing a more ‘liberal’ audience or an international audience but does not have the courage to acknowledge and condemn the unacceptable and uncivilized behaviour of his own UMNO Youth leaders,” he said.
The Serdang MP also shared the contents of the text messages between him and Khairy that carried the private apology of the latter;
On May 22, Khairy said,
“The lads got carried away. Apologies for the sign. I’ll have it replaced. Please inform your party.”
Ong Kian Ming responded,
They r coming again tomorrow after prayers, expected to b bigger group, hope u can ask them not to come, hard to control once they r here.
Khairy Jamaluddin replied,
“OK.”
Khairy sent another message, saying,
“Send me the bill for the sign.”
Ong Kian Ming replied on May 23,
“Bro, a private apology cannot be considered an apology lah.”
In his statement today, Ong explained that it was never his intention to reveal his private texts.
“My understanding has always been that these private messages are ‘off the record’ and should not be used to gain political mileage for either side. It was only after Khairy revealed to Malaysiakini that he had apologized to me in public that I responded by saying that this private apology is not acceptable”
The Serdang MP also said that the private apology for the behaviour of the UMNO youth is insufficient, responding to Khairy’s retort that there was no difference between a private or a public apology. Khairy, however, has not revealed the reason behind his refusal to publicly apologise for the acts of his UMNO youths.
Ong had reiterated the example of whether it would be acceptable for DAP members to go to the headquarters of UMNO, damage its property and later send a private message of apology to the Prime Minister. He added also, that the behaviour of the UMNO youth which included gangsterism and threats of arson did not reflect Khairy’s call for political transformation in his speech made to the UMNO Youth delegates in the 2012 UMNO General Assembly.
“We hope that the UMNO Youth Chief can provide a good example to the youth people of Malaysia by publicly apologizing for and condemning the actions and words of his UMNO Youth KLFT colleagues in threatening to burn down the DAP Headquarters and behaving like gangsters,” Ong concluded. -The Rocket
