Toll Vs Religion Akmal Opens Fire From Mecca Johor Mca Apologises

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Shortly after arriving in the holy city of Mecca, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh launched a broadside against Johor MCA over its statement which compared allocations for Islamic-related matters with the lack of free toll provisions during the Chinese New Year.
He had demanded an apology within 24 hours, failing which police reports would be lodged.
This afternoon, Johor MCA, which has since deleted the statement from its social media, apologised and blamed it on an “unintentional” action of one of its Facebook administrators.
“Johor MCA extends its apologies, particularly to all Muslims, regarding the sharing of status by another party on the Johor MCA Facebook page on Jan 26, 2025.
“This was unintentionally done by one of the Facebook administrators without informing the top leadership of MCA Johor.
“The administrator, who had long retired from the Johor MCA office, admitted to mistakenly sharing the status from another party, which was neither written by Johor MCA nor any of its leaders,” it stated.
Johor MCA said the administrator has since been removed from accessing the Facebook page, which is now solely managed by a new administrator.
“The controversial post was also immediately taken down after complaints were received yesterday.
“Truthfully, we at Johor MCA never intended nor had any desire to hurt, much less insult or belittle, Islam or any religion and race in this country,” it added.
False and malicious
Earlier, Akmal said the post appeared to belittle the federal government’s assistance for the Muslims.
“What is the intention behind this statement? Is it to provoke anger among the people?” he asked.
“I want to emphasise to Johor MCA, why question the budget allocations for the development of the Quran and the assistance for the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and compare it with toll assistance for Chinese New Year?” he added.
“If you want to be angry because you didn’t get free tolls, that’s your problem, but don’t question the assistance given to Muslims. That is what we call foolish and ridiculous.
“You can delete that statement, but we are urging Johor MCA to issue an apology within 24 hours, and if not, we will lodge a police report!
“Enough of this foolish mindset that continuously belittles Islam. No matter who you are, if you have this kind of thinking, we will fight to the very end,” he added.
Johor MCA also courted flak from the state’s PKR Youth, which accused the former of attempting to build a “false and malicious” narrative against the government's concern for the Palestinian issue and Islam.
“This action is not only irresponsible, but it also clearly shows an effort to divide the multi-racial and multi-religious people of Malaysia,” said its treasurer Raju Krishnan.
He said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has always upheld the principle of safeguarding the sensitivities of all races and religions in Malaysia.
“Support for the Palestinian people's struggle is a testament to solidarity for universal justice, in line with Islamic values that advocate for peace and human rights,” he added. - Mkini

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