星洲日報
On 25 August 2008 local Chinese daily "Sin Chew Daily" reported a speech made by Ahmad Ismail on the evening of 23 August 2008 at Kampung Pelet to campaign for Arif Shah, in which he allegedly stated Malaysian Chinese were "immigrants" and "squatters", and could not have equal rights. In a 6 September statement by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Ahmad was quoted that he merely uttered the remark based on historical facts and claimed it was not a racist statement as reported by "Sin Chew Daily", accusing the paper of misinterpreting him.