Nary a month goes by in Malaysia without a politician making a racially-charged statement and then attempting to defend or justify it.
Anyone can tell that Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Mohd Nor’s remarks about MIC Deputy President M. Saravanan and DAP’s Deputy Penang Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy being “drunk on the toddy of popularity” and “acting drunk on three bottles after consuming only one” were unrelated to the discussion about the demolition of a temple earlier this month. If the MB had no intention of being racist, then the analogy of being drunk on toddy would never have been used. He knew very well that the insult would not have the same effect on people of other ethnicities.
