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_______________ Press Statement
Whilst Malaysians may not agree with the coarse language used by him, many see this as one young man expressing his unhappiness with government policies. Wee had asked the government to state what laws he had transgressed and he was willing to apologise if he was wrong. So far no UMNO Minister can prove where Wee had lied. If action was still taken against Wee, then the government would have created the unfortunate impression that Wee was punished for telling the truth. DAP is shocked that a Minister representing youths in Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said can be so ferocious in demanding that Wee be charged under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for threatening public peace and national security. How has Wee threatened national security when he is not in Malaysia and has not physically harmed anyone? Except for noise made by UMNO and MCA, there is no public tension here as Wee is only an ordinary student and not a leader of any organisation. Is that how youths are given space and respect by punishing them for expressing their views. Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein Onn said the student had discarded the cultures and values of Malaysian society. DAP wishes to ask whether Hishamuddin brandishing the Malay kris to threaten non-Malays or inflammatory speeches by UMNO Youth delegates threatening to kill Chinese and burn their homes is part and parcel of Malaysian culture and values. DAP regrets that this attack on bloggers and webmasters have continued with Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin asking for new laws against them when opening the Kelana Jaya Umno divisional meeting. Kelana Jaya UMNO Division Chairman and UMNO information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib even went further when he moved 3 division resolutions:- 1. To urge the government to develop special laws to take action against webmasters and bloggers, including foreigners, or locals who published comments, sketches or reports aiming to slander or insult the sanctity of Islam and the country’s constitution, be it locally or abroad; 2. To urge the government to develop special laws to enable the extradition of bloggers, webmasters, foreigners or locals who spread lies, insult Islam or the constitution, instigating tension and enmity among different ethnic groups; and, 3. To call for the revocation of citizenship of Malaysians considered traitors, whether the offence is committed locally or overseas, if a prima facie case against them is established. If the offence is committed by foreigners residing overseas, firm action must be taken to prevent them from entering the country. For those residing in Malaysia, legal action must be taken to evict and blacklist them from re-entering the country. To call someone a traitor because you disagree with the views expressed and thus his citizenship should be revoked is most extreme, irresponsible and contrary to the spirit of freedom when we are celebrating our 50th Merdeka anniversary. Freedom to revoke one’s citizenship is not the freedom our founding father envisaged when we achieved Merdeka. The real traitors are those Malaysian leaders, who shamed the country was arrested overseas for trying to smuggle A$ 2 million to Brisbane, Australia. Or a serving Deputy Minister who had held a Permanent Resident (PR) status in Australia despite taking an oath of loyalty to defend and promote the country. Would UMNO and MCA dare to say that these are not the acts of traitors as compared to Wee Meng Chee who had neither smuggled A$ 2 million nor posseses a foreign PR.
How can defending the right of freedom of expression and Wee Meng Chee from UMNO’s and Liow Tiong Lai’s wild and ferocious attacks that Wee had insulted the national anthem be seen as politically motivated when it is the responsibility of every democratic activist? MCA Youth President Datuk Liow Tiong Lai should apologise to Wee Meng Chee and the Chinese community to make amends for supporting UMNO’s attacks that Wee had insulted the national anthem. Instead Liow has tried to distract public attention from this grievous political error by claiming that I am trying to extract political capital out of this case. How can defending the right of freedom of expression and Wee Meng Chee from UMNO’s wild and ferocious attacks that Wee had insulted the national anthem be seen as politically motivated when it is the responsibility of every democratic activist? Clearly Liow and MCA are trying to hide the fact that they have no principles and ideals except the sole principle of supporting blindly UMNO. DAP insists that there is no need for UMNO leaders to issue threats of ISA or revoking passports and citizenships. If indeed Wee had insulted the national anthem, Wee can be charged under Section 8(2) of the National Anthem Act 1965 which states,
For this reason, DAP would defend Wee legally if action is taken against him not because DAP approve fully what he said but to defend Wee’s right to exercise his freedom of expression. The essence of freedom of expression was captured by French philosopher Voltaire’s famous words "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." By victimizing an ordinary student, it is MCA and UMNO who are politically bankrupt and run out of political capital to show that they are still relevant in defending the nation’s interests and distract attention from their failure to curb corruption and abuse of power.
* Lim Guan Eng, Secretary-General of DAP |