Yesterday, after a meeting of Pahang MCA MPs and State Assemblymen which was also attended by the MCA Deputy Minister for Tourism, Ng Yen Yen and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Fu Ah Kiow, MCA Pahang MPs and State Assemblymen, the MCA MP for Bentong Liow Tiong Lai made the extraordinary announcement at a joint media conference that the MCA was considering instituting legal action against PAS Pahang State Assembly leader Idris Omar for his speech on the destruction of religious statues.
Ten days have passed since the Pahang State Assembly incident on May 2, 2001 and if what the MCA national and state leaders claimed were true, that Idris Omar had announced that if PAS comes to power it would would destroy all Buddhist and Kuan Kung statues, why is the MCA still “considering” legal action instead of going ahead to file legal proceedings?
The reason is very simple. MCA leaders know that there is no case against Idris because the PAS State Assemblyman had never said that if PAS comes to power it would destroy all Buddhist and Kuan Kung statues. These were words which the MCA had put into Idris’ mouth.
In fact, up to now, no MCA leader had dared to lodge a police report against Idris for sedition although various national and state MCA leaders had made such an announcement, including the Pahang MCA State Assemblyman for Indera Mokhota, Ti Lean Ker who had “lit the fire” in concocting the tale that Idris had made such an extremist and fanatical statement to artificially arouse non-Muslim alarm and fear.
After all, MCA leaders are not stupid people for they know that it is a criminal offence to lodge a false police report - which they would be guilty of if they should put in black-and-white that Idris had said that if PAS comes to power it would destroy all Buddhist and Kuan Kung statues - and risk fine, imprisonment and disqualification as MP or State Assemblyman!
It is the height of irresponsibility for the MCA national and state leaders to continue to accuse Idris of having said in the Pahang State Assembly that PAS would destroy Buddhist and Kuan Kung statues, when they know that Idris had never made such a statement and that on the same day in the assembly had declared clearly that Islam respects the customs and beliefs of other religions - which is borne out by the Pahang State Assembly full transcript.
DAP Deputy Chairman Karpal Singh has said that Idris would be guilty of sedition if he had spoken about the destruction of Buddhist and Kuan Kung statues, which MCA had tried most dishonestly to give the impression was the case by the production of an incomplete transcript of the Pahang State Assembly proceedings - omitting the clarification which Idris made at the assembly later the same day rebutting Ti’s claim that he wanted the Buddhist and Kuan Kuang statues destroyed.
The DAP would have been in the forefront denouncing Idris if the PAS Assemblyman had stood for the destruction of Buddhist and Kuan Kung statues, but DAP will have no truck with the dishonest politics of MCA in concocting a completely baseless allegation - and yet have no courage either to lodge a police report or file legal action against Idris.
(11/5/2001)