Home Ministry admits Teresa Kok’s CNY video does not insult PM
The Home Ministry has finally admitted that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok's controversial Chinese New Year video clip "Onederful Malaysia" did not insult the prime minister.
This comes after the ministry released a "wrong" statement in Parliament last week, claiming that the satirical video was insulting and had poked fun at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Kok said she received the official explanation from the deputy home minister yesterday, adding that the ministry's reply only referred to the statement and reports made by Malay NGOs.
Last week, the DAP vice-chairman had urged the ministry to retract its earlier statement, saying that its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, had broken parliamentary rules by "clearly misinterpreting" the truth.
"Obviously, this is not what we are asking for but I am still glad that the deputy home minister has made the corrections and explained the confusion," she said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
"I have received the answer and because of that, I will not propose any motion to report the deputy minister to the parliamentary committee.
In Parliament on Monday, Lenggong MP Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasrah and Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokthar Radin accused Kok of touching on Islamic sensitivities and creating chaos among the people with her video.
The MPs claimed that Kok's CNY video had also destroyed racial unity in the country.
Kok today said that she hoped that Shamsul and Bung would be able to emulate the ministry and admit their mistake in falsely accusing her.
Ipoh Barat MP M. Kula Segaran said Pakatan Rakyat had sent a motion to refer both parliamentarians to the rights and privileges committee for their attacks on Kok regarding the video.
He said the accusations and attacks were baseless as it was clear that it did not touch on any issues on religion, leadership and last year’s Lahad Datu intrusion.
"I am also challenging Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to debate with us on that motion," he added.
Kok had received much flak over her video and was accused of insulting the Malays, Islam, the monarchy, the security forces and national leaders.
On February 6, a group calling itself the "Coalition of Islamic NGOs" held a protest in Kuala Lumpur and offered a RM2,000 reward to anybody who dared to slap Kok. They also slaughtered two chickens and smeared the blood on a poster bearing Kok's photo.
Two weeks later, she found red paint splashed at the entrance of her service centre in Puchong and a chicken carcass on the doorstep. – March 20, 2014.
