KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20: Staying true to the adage that 'bad publicity is also publicity', DAP leaders said they were “touched” by the attention given by right wing Malay tabloid Utusan Malaysia, which dedicated six pages including its front page to attack the party.
“Utusan paid a special tribute to DAP today with 6 pages of coverage, including the front page. We must be doing something right!” said the party's Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua, in a posting on Twitter.
“An UMNO leader had advised Prime Minister (Najib Razak) to ask Utusan to tone down its racial agenda half a year ago as it was counterproductive to Prime Minister's 1Malaysia campaign.
"Either PM is sleeping or he condones Utusan's racist views. Today's attacks on Guan Eng and DAP is nonsensical,” said Bukit Bendera MP, Liew Chin Tong.
The brunt of Utusan's attacks was however borne by Penang chief minister and DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng, who was accused of being a racist and anti-Malay.
Statements from several UMNO leaders also branded DAP a tool of the Singaporean regime, and some even called for a ban on the party. The paper had earlier accused DAP of being behind the WikiLeaks story which quoted Singapore's minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew of saying that Opposition Leader had willingly walked into a sodomy trap.
'Walk the talk'
Meanwhile, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang took prime minister Najib Razak to task over his statement calling on the media to promote pragmatism and moderation.
“The movement of the moderates can marginalise the extremists, and that the media has a significant role to play in this quest,” said Najib, Najib, opening an international convention by World Chinese Language Press Institute in Penang.
“Well said, but Najib is not walking the talk.Najib should ask how he could expect his promotion of moderation 'to take back the centre' to have any traction or credibility when the UMNO organ Utusan Malaysia is allowed to preach extremism of the worst kind with lies and falsehoods everyday?” said the DAP leader.
