Zakir Naik has compounded his abuse of Malaysia’s hospitality

MP SPEAKS | Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik has compounded his abuse of Malaysian hospitality by attacking the Chinese Malaysians as “old guests” after attacking the loyalty of the Indian Malaysians.

As reported by Malaysiakini today, Zakir Naik made his offensive remarks about Chinese Malaysians while talking about how Islam had spread peacefully in the region through traders.

Zakir Naik referred to himself as “new guest” and the Chinese Malaysians as “old guests”, declaring that “If you want the new guest to go first, ask the old guests to go back”.

Zakir Naik said the Chinese Malaysians, “aren’t born here, most of them. May be the new generations, yes”.

Zakir Naik has trespassed into a territory he knows nothing about to make a totally unsolicited offence.

I do not have the exact statistics but I reckon that the number of Chinese Malaysians born in China today is less than one per cent or totally inconsequential and that over 99 per cent of Chinese Malaysians are locally born and loyal to Malaysia.

Maybe Zakir Naik had fallen for the lie and falsehoods spread in cyberspace and social media by cyber-liars that I had swum from China to Malaya when I was 17 years old, when in fact, I was born locally and went to school in Batu Pahat from Standard One onwards.

The more important point is Malaysia can have no place for a foreigner who abuses the country’s hospitality and privileges, sowing trouble in a plural society and creating inter-racial and inter-religious misunderstanding, tension and conflict while running away from his native India for criminal charges of money-laundering.

LIM KIT SIANG is member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.