May 13 Incident (Malaysia) - Political References

Political References

Malaysian politicians have often cited the 13 May incident when warning of the potential consequences of racial rhetoric, or as a bogeyman to blanket off discussion on any issues that challenge the status quo.

In the 1990 general election and 1999 general election, 13 May was cited in Barisan Nasional campaign advertisements and in speeches by government politicians. Such usage of the incident in political discourse has been criticised; the Tunku stated: "For the PM (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) to repeat the story of the 13 May as a warning of what would have happened if the government had not taken appropriate action is like telling ghost stories to our children to prevent them from being naughty… The tale should not be repeated because it shows us to be politically immature…"

In 2004, during the UMNO general assembly Badruddin Amiruldin, the current deputy permanent chairman, waved a book on 13 May during his speech and stated "No other race has the right to question our privileges, our religion and our leader".

He also stated that doing so would be similar to "stirring up a hornet's nest".

The next day, Dr Pirdaus Ismail of the UMNO Youth was quoted as saying "Badruddin did not pose the question to all Chinese in the country ... Those who are with us, who hold the same understanding as we do, were not our target. In defending Malay rights, we direct our voice at those who question them."

Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar dismissed the remarks as a lesson in history and said that Badruddin was merely reminding the younger generation of the blot on the nation's history.