KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition MPs must not be parochial when dredging up the issue of Chinese new villages being nominated as Unesco World Heritage Sites, especially since Ramadan is just around the corner, said Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming (Teluk Intan-PH).
Nga insisted that the ministry was open to all parties – including the opposition and non-governmental organisations – when receiving suggestions on nominating sites, and would conduct research with the National Heritage Department for consideration first.
“Why do you (the opposition) always want to play up racial sentiments? The holy month of Ramadan begins tomorrow,” he said, while winding-up his speech on the royal address debate in the Dewan Rakyat today.
“Do not always be so ‘asabiyyah’ (parochial), something we should not do in this august House. We Malays, Chinese and Indians, must act as a family. Why do I hear the same tune reverberating every day, day and night?”
Nga said nominations were an initiative by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Malaysia, aimed at preserving and conserving heritage sites in the country.
He added that Icomos also established the New Village Working Group in 2021, when the opposition was in the administration, to examine the suitability of the Chinese new villages as heritage sites.
Subsequently, PAS lawmaker Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib (Maran-PN) reiterated that nominating the villages would mean recognising communism in the nation, as it was created under the influence of the Chinese communists.
In response, Nga said making such assumptions would be slander, as he said the villages’ residents were victims.
Meanwhile, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Machang-PN) said nominating the Chinese new villages – and bak kut teh receiving heritage status – touched on the sensitivities of Malays, urging against turning the matter into a polemic.
DAP’s Howard Lee (Ipoh Timor-PH) interjected, saying there were no contestations of it being a polemic, as it was a part of history.
Nga merely quipped: “Machang (Wan Fayhsal) is a young person with a bright future, he was not like this under Pakatan Harapan. Maybe he followed the wrong Tok Guru.”
Nga’s proposal to nominate Chinese new villages as Unesco World Heritage Sites, which was made over a month ago, is still stirring debate that it was insensitive to the Malays and Bumiputera. – March 11, 2024