What advice was our PM dispensing when he said, “Let's not call Indians ‘pendatang’, don’t call Indians ‘keling’. I don't like this. Please, don’t”?

For our PM to say it in the MIC’s annual general meeting and in the presence of Indian Malaysians was, to me, unsuitable and even condescending.

I don’t understand why there was a need for our PM to “plead” for the use of derogatory terms against Indian Malaysians be stopped. Will he next plead that we should stop asking the Malays to “balik kampong” or the Chinese be labelled as “cina babi”?

As the PM, why did he plead when he should have warned and taken stern actions against the culprits?

Surely, we must all show zero tolerance for extreme racial insults. I am sure this problem would have been nipped in the bud a long time ago if we have taken prompt actions and created “an example” out of those who deliberately insulted others.

I must say racial slurs are becoming more prevalent now than in the past. If a problem has become more acute and frequent, do we just express “dislike” and plead that it will not recur? No, I think it is time to use the big stick, regardless of who they are.

Sometimes in discussing national policies, we may touch on the vital interests of certain racial groups. For example, there may be discussions or discords over on the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) or on budget allocations for vernacular schools, but this should not be the reason to resort to racial insults. Are we not all Malaysians discussing Malaysian problems?

There is no justification for racial insults despite our occasional hiccups and differences. The way to tackle it is by taking prompt actions without fear and favour. Pussyfooting is not going to do the job. In fact, it will only serve to embolden the culprits further and make the situation worse. It is time to stop the nonsense, fairly and unequivocally.