‘Dapsy Sarawak merely restoring road signs to what they were’
KUCHING: The Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (Dapsy) Sarawak was merely restoring previously dual language road signs to their original state, claimed former Stampin MP Julian Tan.
He opined that the community should look at the road sign issue in a broader perspective.
“Main Bazaar is a historic and iconic place, and a tourism spot. The dual language road signs were there and then they were gone. What Dapsy Sarawak did was restore those road signs,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday.
He claimed the issue is not new and the Sarawak United People’s Party led by president Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, who is Minister of Local Government and Housing, was aware of it.
“SUPP president Dr Sim, who is a Chinese minister in the state cabinet, knew about the issue and they did nothing about it,” Tan claimed.
On Thursday, Tan had led
Dapsy Sarawak members to place Chinese characters on several road signs here.
Tan cited a news report from 2015 where Dr Sim had thanked the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, who was then chief minister, for supporting bilingual road signs in the city centre under the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU).
“Dr Sim even said that it was reflective of the state’s racial harmony and that multilingual road signs was one of the traditions that the state has,” he said.
On Dapsy Sarawak being condemned by some netizens for its actions, Tan said the negativity likely came from cyber troopers.
“Those netizen responses were from Umno-PAS cyber troopers and even (former prime minister Datuk Seri) Najib (Tun Razak) knew about it. It is alarming that Umno and PAS have infiltrated our state, and PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) is playing the same tune already,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, Michael Kong – special assistant to DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen – said it is good the issue of multilingual road signs has received attention from the local authorities.
“At times, we have to look at the intention of the said act. As explained by Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth, they only meant well in their actions,” he said.
Kong said it is unfortunate the issue has been politicised by many quarters but hoped the relevant authorities would take steps to rectify it. He took credit for first highlighting the issue of missing Chinese characters on the newly-installed road signs at Jalan Stakan and Jalan Jamboree on July 31.
“On Aug 5, Minister of Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian boasted that this was a show of the preservation of traditions (after remedial actions were taken) and respect for the multiracial community that Sarawak enjoys,” he claimed.
“I hope that with this heightened awareness, the Ministry of Local Government and Housing will now take a proactive approach towards this issue.”