PETALING JAYA: Johor MCA has lodged a police report over baseless and libellous claims aimed at sabotaging the party’s effort to help the needy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

       The MCA publicity bureau said that in a time when many require pandemic assistance, people should stop creating baseless racial issues out of nothing.

       “While all MCA leaders are working hard to assist people who have been impacted by the pandemic, our genuine efforts attracted the attention of irresponsible parties who intend to create rifts and instigate racial tension.

       “On July 11, party president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is also Ayer Hitam MP, organised two different aid programmes in his constituency.

       “First was a food basket programme for the needy. The second was a special aid programme by generous donors benefiting 1,000 families in Ayer Hitam.

       “Unfortunately, photos of the charity programmes were misused by those with malicious intentions, who captioned the photo to imply that the Malays received more assistance compared to the Chinese,” it said in a statement on Friday (July 23).

       Throughout MCA’s history, it noted, the party has always assisted everyone regardless of race, religion or even political alignment.

       “We help each other, simply because we are all Malaysians.”

       It added that to prevent the public from being misled by such claims, Johor MCA Youth chief Ling Tian Soon has lodged a police report for the authorities to take action against troublemakers.

       “We hope that this serves as a lesson for others not to sensationalise fake news and steer the community in a hateful direction.

       “Let us all channel our energy into more constructive efforts and help each other overcome this pandemic, instead of playing up racial sentiments for political mileage,” it said.