KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — Datuk Jamal Md Yunos, the leader of the contentious #Merah169 demonstration, should be jailed for claiming that Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese have the option of leaving for China if they are dissatisfied with their lives here, DAP leader Tan Kok Wai said.

The DAP acting national chairman said the authorities must take stern action against Jamal for his allegedly extremist position against the Chinese.

"Jamal should be jailed for all the statements he made after he was released by the police or at the very least charged," the Cheras MP told Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.

Parti Amanah Negara's (Amanah) Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa noted that Jamal — who is also Sungai besar Umno division chief — had acted out of turn when he made the remarks yesterday, in response to controversial remarks made by China’s Ambassador to Malaysia during a walkabout at Petaling Street.

"[It’s] not appropriate to say Chinese people can go back to China because they can protect their rights there. All Malaysians are protected by the Federal Constitution here," the Parit Buntar MP said.

Other Pakatan Harapan leaders, however, did not want to comment on Jamal’s latest diatribe against Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese community, with PKR’s Rafizi Ramli and DAP leaders Liew Chin Tong and Teresa Kok all saying the Umno leader was not worth entertaining.

In a statement on Tuesday, Jamal pointed to the controversial remarks made by Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang during a walkabout in Petaling Street as his proof that ethnic Chinese in Malaysia can return to China unlike the Malays.

“This is a clear message that the ethnic Chinese have a place to complain and protect their rights apart from Malaysia.

“They have land or their country of origin China, and if anything were to happen to them they still have a place to rely on,” Jamal said in a statement.

Huang was reported saying Friday that Beijing would not hesitate to speak out against any threat that may affect the country’s ties with Malaysia, which Jamal insisted showed Chinese Malaysians had an alternative land to call home.