Malaysian's glorious celebration during their victory in the Sudirman Cup was unfortunately tainted by one particular politician's racist remark towards one of our very own athletes, Kisona Selvaduray.
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia leader uploaded a Facebook post containing derogatory remarks towards the national player, which outraged Malaysians and other politicians. The Badminton Association of Malaysia took to their official Twitter account to address the matter, thus condemning the blatant display of racism:
After the nationwide backlash, the politician issued a public apology as well as his resignation, which was posted via the Deputy National Unity Minister Ti Lian Ker's Facebook. In his letter, he said: "I hereby retract my statement and apologize openly to all Malaysians, particularly those who have been affected by the posting... I did not intend to talk down on any people or race. I will also improve my attitude in the future,".
To this, Ti Lian Ker added, "If this is a genuine and sincere statement from him, let us together in the strong spirit of Keluarga Malaysia forgive Che Borhan for his mistake." However, Malaysians, it seems, aren't ready to forgive and forget.
Indeed, racism shouldn't be tolerated and such mistakes are not usually unintentional and unprecedented— often these negative values are a result of prolonged prejudice and flagrant ignorance.
#StandWithKisona
