Kit Siang takes Puad, Zam and Utusan Malaysia to court over “urinating” comments
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang will take legal action against two Umno politicians and newspaper Utusan Malaysia for an article which implied that he had indeed urinated in front of the Selangor menteri besar's home during the May 13 riots in 1969.
The article, which appeared in the daily on Saturday, quoted former deputy minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi as saying that the DAP had strongly criticised the controversial movie, Tanda Putera, to "hide Lim's rudeness" when he had allegedly urinated on a flag during the incident.
The DAP veteran has denied the allegations and the movie director Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba has confirmed that she had used her "creative licence" in coming up with the urinating incident.
"How can the former Umno deputy minister say that, and Utusan Malaysia publish such falsehood? This is a most irresponsible and downright lie.
"I was never in Kuala Lumpur at any time during the May 13 riots," he reiterated.
Former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, in a blog post last Tuesday, had also accused Lim of having “sowed the seeds of death” in causing the May 13 riots.
"I have instructed my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against Zainuddin, Puad and Utusan Malaysia to clear my name, but the question is whether they will allow the dissemination of racist lies, poison and incitement to sacrifice the higher national interests of Malaysian nation-building," Lim said in a statement today.
Tanda Putera has been the centre of controversy following concerns that some scenes and dialogue in the film could incite racial tension.
DAP and MCA had criticised the movie for showing that the Chinese was responsible for the May 13 riots.
Lim today also listed out six reasons why he could not have been responsible for the May 13 riots, including the fact that he was not in the capital city after the general election on May 10, revealing that he was actually in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah at that time.
He pointed out that he had not contested in any seat in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor in the 1969 general election. He had instead contested in the Bandar Melaka parliamentary seat.
"Thirdly, I would not have dared to return to Kuala Lumpur from Sabah if I had caused the riots by shouting anti-Malay slogans in victory processions in the streets and even urinating at the flagpole of the Selangor mentri besar’s residence," he said.
He added that if he had done what he had been accused of, he would have been charged and prosecuted for causing the riots.
"I also would not have called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the riots to ascertain the causes and identity the culprits, 44 years later.
“I also would never have written a letter to the Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman from the Muar Detention Centre on August 5, 1969, expressing my 'anxieties for the future of Malaysia' and making a three-point proposal for the forging of national unity in the wake of the May 13 riots," he added. – September 9, 2013.
