(Johor) The Johor Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (DAPSY) has also called on its main body and Youth wing to sever ties with UMNO Youth Chief Datuk Akmal and to avoid cooperating with him in the coming general election.
The Johor DAPSY pointed out that since becoming UMNO Youth Chief, Akmal has constantly claimed to defend national sovereignty and the interests of a particular ethnic group, but in reality, he practices extremism, repeatedly targeting Chinese enterprises and the Chinese community. From the KK Mart 'Allah' socks incident, the halal certification issue for KK Mart sausages at UM, criticizing Bak Kut Teh being listed as a national food heritage, to opposing Chinese new villages being listed as a world intangible cultural heritage—he always exaggerates minor issues to elevate himself as a national hero.
"As an Executive Councillor, Akmal has not produced any noteworthy political achievements since entering politics; instead, his track record consists solely of intimidating businesses and inciting trouble. Obviously, Akmal has abandoned his responsibilities and spends all his time creating conflict and disputes."
The Johor DAPSY stated in a press release that the recent incidents involving upside-down national flags were unintentional mistakes. Both the Penang hardware store owner and the Johor private dental clinic corrected the errors immediately and issued public apologies, so the incidents should have come to a close.
"Unfortunately, Akmal, as usual, seized the opportunity to exaggerate the issues, making inflammatory remarks accusing Chinese people of deliberately inverting the flag, labeling them as unpatriotic and traitorous, and even calling for demonstrations at a hardware store in Kepala Batas, Penang. He claimed the aim was to educate the owner on properly displaying the flag, but the real purpose was to stir up ethnic tensions—his intentions are truly reprehensible."
"No citizen denies the importance of correctly displaying the national flag. If Akmal takes the flag inversion issue so seriously, why did he turn a blind eye when the Ministry of Education, PAS, and even his own UMNO Youth used the wrong flag design? Moreover, his own social media has featured photos showing the wrong number of flag stripes on multiple occasions."
In addition, Johor DAPSY also pointed out that Akmal has always flirted with Perikatan Nasional, collaborating on issues to attack allied parties within the Unity Government. His views and rhetoric tend to align closely with Perikatan Nasional, especially PAS.
"Since Akmal treats the Unity Government so dismissively, why not simply quit UMNO, leave the Unity Government, and openly throw himself into the arms of Perikatan Nasional?"