By Ida Lim
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 ― Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said today he believes his apology should sufficiently calm Muslim anger over his recent tweet asking if the protests against the anti-Islam clip “Innocence of Muslims” were a waste of “time and energy”.
The prime minister had earlier questioned Ngeh’s sincerity, reportedly saying: “If it is that easy, we can also pass remarks, insult and ridicule other religions and later apologise.”
According to Bernama Online today, the police may investigate Ngeh for his remarks, which had sparked off protests among Muslim leaders here who accused the leader of being insensitive to Muslims worldwide.
But Ngeh told The Malaysian Insider today that it was time to bury the hatchet and move on to more important issues.
“I have already apologised and released an official statement, I feel it can satisfy everyone,” he said.
He had on Thursday said that he had not meant to hurt Muslim sensitivities or belittle Islam with the offending message on the Twitter microblogging site.
“Forget the past and focus on the future and other issues that are more important,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.
“The calls (for action) from Umno will only cloud the situation and waste time, because there are many other things like the economy, social problems and the difficulties faced by the people that I need to solve,” he said.
Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, an Umno minister, had yesterday called for the police to probe Ngeh over his remarks.
Yesterday, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not be “uncharitable and small-minded” over Ngeh’s apology.
He pointed out that Ngeh’s apology and retraction yesterday proved that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders were more gracious and willing to admit to their mistakes or shortcomings, unlike the politicians in Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN).
Lim also told Najib to look at his own members in BN before passing any judgment against Ngeh, pointing out that many in the ruling coalition who made offensive statements in the past had not found it necessary to apologise later.