Karim urges Bumiputera not to be 'pengkhianat bangsa'

October 3, 2011

FOR THE ALBUM: Karim (fifth right), Padawan Municipal Council chairman Lo Khere Chiang (second left)
and other guests with the recipients of Merdeka Raya Special Award.

KUCHING: Assistant Minister of Housing Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has reminded the people, especially the Bumiputeras, not to blindly support the opposition without first understanding their real agenda.

Abdul Karim, who is also Assistant Minister of Social Development, said the people should ponder why, for instance, the DAP was so keen to penetrate the rural areas after the April 16 polls.

“This is because they (DAP) have realised that only if they could gain the support of the rural populace would they have the chance to form the new government. Don’t forget that they are only fighting for a single race all this while. I don’t mean to be a racist, but this is the fact.

“The problem is that some Bumiputeras, who are not aware of the real situation, have given the opposition their support. Don’t become ‘pengkhianat bangsa’ (a quisling),” said Karim, who is also PBB Supreme Council member, at a Hari Raya gathering at SK Jalan Haji Baki near Kota Sentosa here.

Citing the statement by PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu on the battle at Bukit Kepong, Abdul Karim said the opposition would do anything, including altering historical facts, to gain political mileage.

Besides, DAP-governed Penang, he said, had decided not to continue low-cost housing project based on the weak argument that such a policy would not be good for the unity of the people as the majority of the residents of such housing estates were Bumiputeras.

“But the truth is that they (Penang government) don’t want Bumiputeras to gather together as they might become a hindrance for them to win the coming election. I believe the DAP would do the same if they were to govern Sarawak. I’m not here to threaten you but please think carefully.

“Therefore, it is my hope that the villagers of Kampung Haji Baki would be smart, especially when you are facing the opposition in the upcoming general election,” he said.

Abdul Karim, who is also Asajaya assemblyman, also called on parents to pay more attention on the education of their children, saying that academic credentials were the only thing that mattered for one to get a better job.

“It is my hope that parents, as well as non-governmental organisations in this village, would play an active role in preventing and controlling social illnesses from spreading as they will harm the younger generations,” he said.