Malaysians against the disrespectful behavior of Akmal Saleh and a Memorandum for National Harmony

“Self-proclaimed Malay, Muslim champion Akmal Saleh is ...

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Malaysians against the disrespectful behavior of Akmal ...

ACADEMICIAN and political commentator Prof Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is seen to be spearheading a campaign to clamp down the rightist influence of UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh.

This follows the issuance of a six-sided joint statement entitled “Malaysians Against the Disrespectful Behaviour of Akmal Saleh and a Memorandum for National Harmony” led by him.“Self-proclaimed Malay, Muslim champion Akmal Saleh is ...

“Self-proclaimed Malay, Muslim champion Akmal Saleh is ...

*As a *As a patriotic Malaysians & for Nation building, calling all rakyat to viral this declaration message! Help do our little bit for our beloved Malaysia*

*Malaysians against the disrespectful behavior of Akmal Saleh and a Memorandum for National Harmony*

*Joint Statement*

1.Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

2.Mohamed Tawfik Tun Dr. Ismail

3.Mohamed bin Halim 

4.Choy Meng Hooi

5.Poh Teik Heng

6.Dr Mohd. Razif b Mohd. Ali

We have seen just barely two months have passed of the new year 2025 that Malaysia is slipping further and further into disharmony. After almost 70 years of Merdeka we may have failed to honor the founding fathers of this country the likes of  Tun Dato’ Sir Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun V.T. Sambanthan and Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock. The recent JAKIM furore over needless guidelines for Muslims visiting and interacting with non-Muslims marks a social fissure that may cause a total collapse of nation building by dividing communities in our country  forever.

In the light of these serious social and religious crisis, one person stands out as the epitome and example of nation disharmony; the politician from UMNO Akmal Saleh. As a people’s representative in Melaka, a State with a long history of integration and racial harmony, as an Exco of the state and as head of the UMNO Youth, Akmal has sown discord after discord in his relentless attacks on non-Malay personalities on issues of race and religion, in spite of swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution. We Malaysians respect Akmal Saleh for being a self proclaimed ‘champion’ of the Malays and of the Muslims but we totally disagree with his socially and spiritually destructive methods and statements. He had taunted a veteran Chinese politician as Nyonya Tua. He had called on Malays to boycott a Chinese businessman ‘sampai bankrap’. He had called a Chinese Minister of the Unity Government as ‘stupid’. He had recently called out a young Chinese MP to ‘better die’. His manner of speaking can easily be interpreted as menacing, threatening and certainly insulting.

He should follow the example of Melaka statesmen like the late Tun Abdul Ghafar.

If we have a young politician leaders like this who influences many online members of his same race as well as members of his own political party and other Malay based political parties, how are we going to rebuild this nation through the idea of ‘kesopanan dan kesusilaan’? The core foundational values of social, political and religious harmony are respect and according dignity to all faiths, race and cultures. Inherent in the concept of respect and dignity are speaking and debating with decorum, knowledge and courtesy. 

We Malaysians ask that Akmal Salleh apologises to all Malaysians unreservedly for his past and present behavior and a promise of upholding the Rukunegara. We Malaysians, in turn, promises to forgive and begin our relationship with him in a clean slate.

We also ask UMNO to ensure that it advises and reprimand all of its members that act like Akmal Saleh in the future, and remind them of the Rukun Negara and the Federal Constitution and the laws enacted after the May 13 tragedy to ensure harmony and peace, formulated by an Umno-led admimistration.

Finally, we Malaysians would like to think and hope that Akmal Saleh can be a good and responsible leader to educate our future generation about the importance and sanctity of social and religious harmony. We Malaysians would also like to think that UMNO can be trusted with a new mandate of governance by abiding to the core values of respecting all faiths and race. We Malaysians will not tolerate and will campaign against any and all parties that would destroy the delicate and sacred harmony between our communities. The task of rebuilding this nation through respect and harmony lies not with any government ministry but unto each and every responsible citizens of Malaysia.

*Signatories*

1.Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

2.Mohamed Tawfik Tun Dr. Ismail

3.Mohamed bin Halim 

4.Choy Meng Hooi

5.Poh Teik Heng

6.Dr Mohd. Razif b Mohd. Ali.                    Malaysians & for Nation building, calling all rakyat to viral this declaration message! Help do our little bit for our beloved Malaysia*

*Malaysians against the disrespectful behavior of Akmal Saleh and a Memorandum for National Harmony*

*Joint Statement*

1.Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

2.Mohamed Tawfik Tun Dr. Ismail

3.Mohamed bin Halim 

4.Choy Meng Hooi

5.Poh Teik Heng

6.Dr Mohd. Razif b Mohd. Ali

We have seen just barely two months have passed of the new year 2025 that Malaysia is slipping further and further into disharmony. After almost 70 years of Merdeka we may have failed to honor the founding fathers of this country the likes of  Tun Dato’ Sir Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun V.T. Sambanthan and Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock. The recent JAKIM furore over needless guidelines for Muslims visiting and interacting with non-Muslims marks a social fissure that may cause a total collapse of nation building by dividing communities in our country  forever.

In the light of these serious social and religious crisis, one person stands out as the epitome and example of nation disharmony; the politician from UMNO Akmal Saleh. As a people’s representative in Melaka, a State with a long history of integration and racial harmony, as an Exco of the state and as head of the UMNO Youth, Akmal has sown discord after discord in his relentless attacks on non-Malay personalities on issues of race and religion, in spite of swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution. We Malaysians respect Akmal Saleh for being a self proclaimed ‘champion’ of the Malays and of the Muslims but we totally disagree with his socially and spiritually destructive methods and statements. He had taunted a veteran Chinese politician as Nyonya Tua. He had called on Malays to boycott a Chinese businessman ‘sampai bankrap’. He had called a Chinese Minister of the Unity Government as ‘stupid’. He had recently called out a young Chinese MP to ‘better die’. His manner of speaking can easily be interpreted as menacing, threatening and certainly insulting.

He should follow the example of Melaka statesmen like the late Tun Abdul Ghafar.

If we have a young politician leaders like this who influences many online members of his same race as well as members of his own political party and other Malay based political parties, how are we going to rebuild this nation through the idea of ‘kesopanan dan kesusilaan’? The core foundational values of social, political and religious harmony are respect and according dignity to all faiths, race and cultures. Inherent in the concept of respect and dignity are speaking and debating with decorum, knowledge and courtesy. 

We Malaysians ask that Akmal Salleh apologises to all Malaysians unreservedly for his past and present behavior and a promise of upholding the Rukunegara. We Malaysians, in turn, promises to forgive and begin our relationship with him in a clean slate.

We also ask UMNO to ensure that it advises and reprimand all of its members that act like Akmal Saleh in the future, and remind them of the Rukun Negara and the Federal Constitution and the laws enacted after the May 13 tragedy to ensure harmony and peace, formulated by an Umno-led admimistration.

Finally, we Malaysians would like to think and hope that Akmal Saleh can be a good and responsible leader to educate our future generation about the importance and sanctity of social and religious harmony. We Malaysians would also like to think that UMNO can be trusted with a new mandate of governance by abiding to the core values of respecting all faiths and race. We Malaysians will not tolerate and will campaign against any and all parties that would destroy the delicate and sacred harmony between our communities. The task of rebuilding this nation through respect and harmony lies not with any government ministry but unto each and every responsible citizens of Malaysia.

*Signatories*

1.Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

2.Mohamed Tawfik Tun Dr. Ismail

3.Mohamed bin Halim 

4.Choy Meng Hooi

5.Poh Teik Heng

6.Dr Mohd. Razif b Mohd. Ali.     

USA, a nation of ‘wrong’ people

 

Even more than in his first term, Trump has mounted a fundamental challenge to the norms and expectations of what a president can and should do. — ©2025 The New York Times Company

IN its early days, the second Trump administration is delivering a clear message: the United States is full of the wrong kind of people.

Federal civil servants, for example, have been deemed the wrong kind of people.

Their political and ideological allegian­ces are questionable, their ideas destructive and their low-productivity jobs not worth their salaries.

Too many are lawbreakers or just “evil”.

Whether they toil at the US Agency for International Development or the Treasury, the CIA or the Food and Drug Administration, in Washington or throughout the country, they should look upon that fork in the road and opt to resign. In some cases, they should be purged.

Children born in the United States to parents in the country illegally – or to parents who are here legally but only temporarily, such as people on work or student visas – are also the wrong people.

They are not true Americans and should not be granted the “gift” of citizenship.

Refugees and asylum-seekers are the wrong kind of people and should be prevented from entering the country.

Transgender Americans lack the “humility and selflessness” needed in the US armed forces, according to a Trump executive order, and can no longer serve.

Former officials such as Mark Milley, who served as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Trump administration, are disloyal and undeserving of government protection or even of a Pentagon portrait.

And anyone fitting a “diversity” category of any kind is automatically suspect, a convenient scapegoat whenever something – wildfires, plane crashes – goes wrong.

It’s a familiar political impulse, with antecedents that predate President Donald Trump’s terms in office.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, mused about the virtues of “real America” – those patriotic small towns that make up the “pro-America areas of this great nation.” (She later offered one of those I’m-sorry-if-it-came-out-wrong apologies.)

But now we’ve gone from praising real America to parsing real Americans. And the audit is being conducted by a vengeful and decidedly unapologetic executive.

If, according to the Trump administration, so many people in the United States are the wrong kind of people, who makes up the right kind? Who belongs in the country – in the military, the government?

The administration invokes meritocracy as one way to answer those questions.

As Trump put it in an executive order on his second day in office, “individual merit, aptitude, hard work and determination” should be the overriding factors when hiring workers, not just in government but throughout “key sectors of American society”.

This directive might be more persuasive if Trump had followed it when selecting key members of his administration.

Did Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney-general, possess the individual merit needed to lead the Justice Department? Does Tulsi Gabbard have the aptitude required to become director of national intelligence, or Robert F. Kennedy Jr to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services? Is Pete Hegseth the hardest-working option to run the Defence Department?

The answer is evident. Their merit is not found in professional experience or outstanding qualifications, but in their fealty to the president. (When new appointees are hailed as disrupters, remember that in the Trump era “disruptive” is a euphemism for “obedient.”)

The racial imperative behind determining the right and wrong people – recall, for example, Trump’s disdain for outsiders who supposedly poison the national bloodstream – fuses with arguments over merit.

Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter who has been named acting undersecretary of public diplomacy at the State Department, wrote late last year that “competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work”.

It would be one thing simply to roll back the excesses of diversity, equity and inclusion programmes throughout the federal government, but this worldview takes that process to its illogical extreme: if the quest for a diverse workforce is prohibited, its opposite must be the best, the only, workforce possible.

During his campaign for the US Senate in 2021, JD Vance told a conservative podcast host that, should Trump regain the presidency, he needed to “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat” and proceed to “replace them with our people”.

His use of “our people” is striking, mainly because one wonders who the future vice-president had in his mind. Who counts as “our people” to this administration? Which marker of belonging makes someone theirs?

Trump has often referred to people in the first-person possessive.

At times, he alludes to a category of people, as in “my judges” or “my generals”, but he has also claimed title to specific individuals, as in “my two Steves” (referring to Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller) and, in the case of one unfortunate former House speaker, “my Kevin”.

Trump has also longed to see “my people” sit up at attention for him the way North Koreans do for Kim Jong-un.

With this last line, with “my people”, Trump may have been referring to his aides and underlings, or perhaps to his party, or maybe to the “Make America Great Again” movement, or to voters, or even Americans overall.

That ambiguity captures the risks and the power inherent in a notion like “we the people”.

When it does not include everyone, when it is malleable and shifting, you never know who counts, for how long, and who makes the calculation.

Does Trump determine who is the right kind of person for America today? Does the Office of Management and Budget pick? Does Elon Musk decide who is part of the future and who gets tossed into the wood chipper?

Belonging has long been elusive in America, a “we” contested by wealth, race, sex and ancestry.

In his second inaugural address, Trump warned that “our government confronts a crisis of trust”, but he also declared that, with his election victory, “national unity is now returning to America”.

One could dismiss this vision of renewed civic harmony as an obligatory line, or just more Trumpian self-regard rather than a faithful reflection of reality.

But that misses the administration’s underlying project.

National unity is indeed returning – if, that is, your conception of the nation is limited to those on your side, if only some of the people are really “the people”.

This president prefers to lead a nation in which belonging is constantly up for grabs, in which certain people are the wrong kind and others are the right kind, in which some are real Americans and others will never be.

The result is not just a crisis of trust in our government, but in each other. — ©2025 The New York Times Company

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America First or America Alone?

'Ne Zha 2' surpasses 'Inside Out 2', tops global animated film box office

Photo: People's Daily

Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 topped the global animated film box office chart on Tuesday, surpassing Inside Out 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film worldwide. As of 7:35 pm on Tuesday, Ne Zha 2 has achieved a box office revenue of 12.32 billion yuan ($1.6984 billion), according to ticketing platform Dengta.

Inside Out 2 is an animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures in 2024, which has already grossed over $1.6983 billion globally, according to international film review platform IMDb.

Shi Wenxue, a veteran cultural critic based in Beijing, told the Global Times that Ne Zha 2 topping the global animated film box office not only highlights the rise and market potential of Chinese cinema with a growing recognition and anticipation for high-quality content, but also demonstrates the global influence of Chinese animation in both technology and culture.

According to CCTV, Ne Zha 2 has been released simultaneously in 770 theaters across more than 400 cities in 48 states in the US, as well as in 42 cities across 10 provinces in Canada.  

In Oceania, the film officially premiered on Thursday, with 124 theaters screening the film, setting a new record for Chinese-language films in the region over the past 20 years in terms of screenings. 

The X account @DiscussingFilm posted shortly after the film's release, predicting that Ne Zha 2 could become the first animated film in history to gross over $2 billion.

The BBC reported on February 10 that Ne Zha 2 has now become the highest-grossing film ever in China.

Currently, the film holds a rating of 8.3 on IMDb. Though for some foreign audiences, Ne Zha 2 is not a film they are familiar with or well-acquainted with, some international audience still gave the film high ratings explaining their reasoning that "While non-Chinese viewers may not fully understand the story, the action and visual effects are impressive enough to leave a lasting impression."

Shi noted that in the past, US animated films, especially those by Pixar, focused on the global market both in terms of industry and storytelling. Through universal emotional resonance and innovative yet accessible narratives, these films were able to reach a diverse audience. This is also why Inside Out 2 topped the global animated film box office chart.

"Today, despite being based on Chinese mythology, Ne Zha 2 still presents a certain cultural barrier for many overseas viewers. However, the film similarly features universal emotional appeal, a visually striking and unique aesthetic, and the positive word-of-mouth effects brought by its box-office success. This will encourage more viewers to seek out additional information to satisfy their curiosity, gradually reducing the barriers to entry and expanding its audience," Shi said.

By Sunday at 9:14 pm, China's 2025 annual box office (including pre-sales) had surpassed 20 billion yuan, setting a new record for the fastest-ever 20 billion yuan milestone in Chinese film history. Ne Zha 2 led the pack with an overwhelming 59.4 percent market share.

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