It is not the Malays who should be called "bangsat" (outcasts), Umno veteran Tan Sri Sanusi Junid said, but leaders who are responsible for the party's loss of power.
The former Umno secretary-general, who appeared taken aback by the use of such a word, said it should not have been used by an Umno leader to address the community.
He was commenting on Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak's warning a few days ago that the Malays will become "bangsat" if Umno loses power.
Najib had said that he picked the word because no other words could depict the situation of the Malays who would be hard-pressed if Umno lost its power.
"I noticed new words are being used nowadays, from 'kencing' by a Langkawi delegate to 'bangsat' by a leader....
"To me, this is a new level, in terms of the usage of the language," Sanusi said, in a video clip (watch video below) posted on the social networking site YouTube recently.
He also questioned the reasoning behind the use of the word when Umno, in its history from the first president, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al Haj, to the fourth, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had never experienced serious losses in the polls.
"So it is said that if Umno loses, the Malays will be 'bangsat', but Umno didn't lose before. It always managed to get 2/3 majority. I guess they are not 'bangsat' then," he said.
Sanusi said instead of threatening the community, those who caused Umno to lose should address the reasons that led to such a situation.
"I think it is not the Malays who are 'bangsat', leaders who caused Umno to lose are the 'bangsat' ones." he said.
Sanusi's remark echoed that of political analyst Shahbudin Husin, who recently hit out out at Najib, saying that it was the leadership that determines whether or not Malays become "bangsat".
Tan Sri Sanusi Junid (centre), seen here with fellow Umno veteran Datuk Seri Sabaruddin Chik (right) at the launch of a book by political analyst Shahbudin Husin (left), questions the use of the word 'bangsat' by Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, calling it a new low in the party's history.
He said that Najib, coming from the feaudal class, should not have hurled the "bangsat" word against the Malays.
“Although Najib’s lineage traces back to the bangsawan (feudal nobility), and hence expected to be cultured, the words that he sometimes utters doesn’t reflect that heritage and indeed betrays it,” said Shahbudin.
Najib had said so during an Umno delegates' meeting in Perlis.
He warned that to avoid the situation, Umno members must defend the party which helms the leadership of the country. – TMI
Could that kind of language come from rosmah??
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