THE attacks last week against Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong are a sign of increasingly brash and violent politics in the country, said veteran politicians from both the government and opposition.

Former Umno minister Syed Hamid Albar said the attacks, which took place as Liew, a DAP lawmaker, was distributing dates during the month of Ramadan would never have occurred a decade ago.

“These incidents would never have taken place (in the past). And back then, Barisan Nasional (BN) was still strong, but still, our politics was more well-mannered,” said the current chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission, who was also Kota Tinggi MP from 1990 to 2013.

“In other words, it was never as aggressive as it is now. Even in Parliament, the language is rude and lacking in decorum,” he said.

Syed Hamid said election season usually brought out “certain behaviour” but the hostility and frequency of such incidents of late would not have been the case a decade ago. 

He said the Kluang incident was not a racial one, but rather a political issue.

“These incidents can be manipulated by politicians and strain race relations,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

On June 10, Liew was confronted and attacked by a mob of Umno supporters while he was distributing dates at a Ramadan bazaar in his constituency of Kluang, Johor.

Video clips of the attack went viral on social media, earning criticism from netizens and leaders from both sides of the political divide.

Police arrested two members of the group who roughed up Liew and members of the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition.

Fellow DAP lawmaker M. Manogaran, who is member of parliament for Teluk Intan, said the political atmosphere in Malaysia has become aggressive and strained with racial and religious undertones, adding that he had never experienced such hostility when he went to the ground prior to the 2008 elections.

“During my time, it was never like this. This is a very negative development, especially with this being the month of Ramadan.

“I used to meet my constituents at Kampung Bahagia, and broke fast with them. I was doing this, and nobody stopped us or created trouble, even though it was an Umno area,” he said.

Manogaran said while the incident appeared to be race-related on the surface, it was actually a sign of desperation by Umno.

“This was not just a gimmick. It was a real reaction from Umno. I think they didn’t want Liew to go to the ground in a Malay area. But this is not good for Malaysia.”

With race and religion being increasingly peddled as political fodder, political analyst Dr Kartini Aboo Talib @ Khalid said Malaysians needed to be more mindful of their action towards other communities, or risk having the country move backwards towards the level of distrust and tensions of pre-Merdeka.

“These things should not be happening in a country that has achieved independence more than 50 years ago,” said Dr Kartini, who is deputy director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

“Why aren’t we achieving a level of unity, but instead still seeing issues like these taking place?

“Issues of religion, ethnicity are still such polarising issues, even though we have achieved independence 50 years ago.

“In reality, Malaysia already has the formula of bargaining, negotiating and mediating to resolve all political hiccups.” – June 15, 2017.