'Sometimes Nga Kor Ming can be politically tone deaf' – KJ

SHAH ALAM – Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, has been described as 'politically tone-deaf' following his proposal to nominate Chinese new villages in Selangor as an Unesco World Heritage site.

Former Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin said that the statement by the DAP leader seemed to indicate his insensitivity to the original history of the establishment of the Chinese new villages during the British colonial era.

He stressed that the proposal not only raised the ire of Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs) but also of Umno, a component party of the unity government, which disagreed with the matter.

"The atmosphere was already heated, and it was further heated by an irrelevant topic.

“I mean, what was he (Nga) thinking?" he said during the Keluar Sekejap podcast programme hosted with former Umno Information Chief Shahril Hamdan, yesterday.

At the same time, Khairy also agreed with the views of Umno Supreme Council member, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, who said that the increasing number of racially charged statements made by DAP leaders, not only endangers the sensitivities of the people but also disrupts the harmony of society.

"This is like the fourth strike from DAP, the first strike when (Tan Sri) Lim Kit Siang talked about the Prime Minister not being Malay.

“The second Tan Kok Wai (DAP Federal Territories Chairman) raised the issue of Local Authority Elections (PBT).

"The third strike, Koo Ham (Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham) said there should be non-Muslim legal practitioners in the Shariah committee.

"This (then) is the fourth strike when Nga asked for the Chinese village to be included as a Unesco World Heritage Site," he said.

Earlier this month, Nga proposed to nominate Kampung Baru Cina in Selangor as a Unesco World Heritage Site and the proposal had since been widely criticised.

On Feb 11, it was reported that Nga would meet Umno leaders to discuss his proposal.