Guan Eng upset at new slapping ‘culture’
The Penang chief minister says he will leave it to his information officer Zaidi Ahmad to ‘handle it’ after he was slapped during a protest yesterday.
He said the new “culture” of hitting a person one does not agree with has unfortunately infiltrated the lives of Malaysians today.
He said violence was an unnecessary reaction to differences of opinion on any matter as differing viewpoints and contentions could be discussed in a civil manner.
“I regret what has happened because violence should not take place in our society,” he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian Online today.
“Whatever it is, one cannot just hit another person. I see this has become a new culture. I am also concerned at what happened to my officer,” he said.
Zaidi, a former Air Force major, was slapped after he posed a question at a protest held outside the Simpang Enam mosque in Macalister Road yesterday.
He later explained that he saw a group of people demonstrating when he emerged from the mosque at about 2.30pm.
Upon hearing that the group was protesting against the Penang government for allegedly blocking state fatwas (Islamic edicts) from being gazetted, he asked for clarification on which fatwa had been blocked.
This angered some of the protestors who shoved him aside. Another slapped his face before plainclothes policemen intervened.
Jaringan Muslimin Pulau Pinang chairman Mohd Hafiz Noordin, who was speaking at the protest, also said that if Lim wanted to break fast with Muslims during Ramadan, he should convert to Islam first.
On May 17, a similar incident took place when film producer David Teo was slapped by actor Sulaiman Yassin in the presence of Prime Minister Najib Razak during the Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) dialogue in Putrajaya.
Teo, who had criticised the session’s moderator, Rosyam Nor, for allegedly overlooking those seated at the back of the hall when it came to taking questions or suggestions, was slapped by Sulaiman before he could move on to pose his question.
Lim, who is DAP secretary-general, said he would leave it to Zaidi to take further action on the incident.
“I contacted him and he said he will manage it himself. This is because the incident was not related to his position as a state government officer but was more personal in nature,” he said.
“Furthermore, it happened when he was going for prayer. I respect his decision and leave to him to handle it himself,” he said.
Zaidi, who joined DAP in April last year, was dismissed from the Air Force after he was found guilty by a court martial panel on two counts of infringing military protocol by going public with the indelible ink issue during the 13th general election in 2013.
Zaidi joins DAP, hoping to end party’s anti-Malay perception
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