KUCHING: The Youth Wing of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) strongly condemned Selangor DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok for her recent Facebook posting which insulted Dayak’s traditional male attire.
In a statement issued here, PRS Youth said Kok was no different from PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang whose ‘loincoth’ remark drew the ire of the Dayaks after the 2009 Batang Ai by-election.
In the Facebook posting, Kok who is Seputeh MP and also DAP national vice chairman, posted a photo of herself with six men dressed in traditional Iban male attire including loincloth and wrote that such attire would definitely be prohibited in government offices under the current dress code.
Such posting, PRS Youth reiterated, showed that Kok had intentionally politicised this Dayak Iban costume to attack the government’s dress code despite knowing very well that Dayak Ibans only wear the costume during festivals.
“What Teresa Kok wrote could be reflection of DAP not really respecting the Dayaks. We hope the Dayaks wake up and reject this party in the next state election,” said the statement issued by the wing’s publicity chief Bit Surang.
“It is very clear that Teresa Kok was playing the racial and political trumpet when she compared the Iban costume with government regulations on office attire and dress code.”
PRS Youth also took offence at the ‘separuh bogel ataupun tidak tutup aurat’ (half naked or showing genitalia) remark written by Kok regarding the Dayak Iban male attire.
“It (the remark) is really a direct provocation and an insult to the Dayaks. Therefore, we urge all the Dayak NGOs to condemn such low remark from this elected representative,” it said.
Kok has come under fire for the Facebook posting, with many Sarawakians expressing their anger over what she wrote.
One Facebook user even replied by stating that it was a deliberate provocation which would make it very hard for DAP to gain support in Sarawak.
There were others who asked Kok to stop the stupidity as such posting would give impression that people in Sarawak and Sabah wear such costumes every day.
In 2009, Hadi drew the ire of the Dayaks after blaming the opposition’s loss in Batang Ai by election on the ignorant ‘loincloth’-wearing voters who did not know how to vote.