BTN man lodges police report over 'mata-sepet' 'si-botol' article

WHY IS PERKASA GETTING INVOLVED? SURELY, THE JOURNALIST WILL HAVE PROOF, SO WHY DENY THE ALLEGATIONS. MAKING RACIST REMARKS - YOU NEED TO BE PUNISHED ACCORDING TO LAW.

Malaysia Chronicle

National Civics Bureau (BTN) deputy director Hamim Husin has lodged a police report against an online news portal and a journalist for allegedly misreporting his speech at a Puteri Umno function, where he was said to have described Chinese as mata sepet or slit eyes and Indians as si botol or drunkard.

Accompanied by a Perkasa official, Hamim lodged the report at the Sentul police station at 1.20pm on Monday. The news portal had published the article on Sept 27. Two days later, BTN issued a denial stating that Hamin had never made the remarks.

The BTN statement had accused the journalist of sneaking into the Puteri Umno event without prior permission from the organising secretariat.

"Hamim, an assistant director of the Federal Territory branch of BTN, was a guest speaker at the event where he expressed personal views and did not make any official statement with the intention to insult anyone," the BTN statement had said.

Unusual

Hamim in dark glass accompanied by Perkasa man

Nonetheless, it is unusual for a reporter to come out with distinct phrases such as mata sepet and si-botoland furthermore senior journalists said it should not matter if the Puteri Umno event was closed-door or not.

"If the remarks are racist, they are racist. If Hamim uttered, then he must be responsible whether personally or officially and regardless of whether it is closed door or open door," a veteran editor toldMalaysia Chronicle.

"If the journalist was enterprising enough to get in and report it, he or she should be praised for having the courage to report it. These are very important events that can help to change Malaysian society for the better and we hope the journalist concerned managed to tape it to avoid prolonged dispute."