Penang DAP rep denies race abuse incident

A Penang DAP assemblyman denied allegations today that he had uttered racial slurs against Indian-Muslims during a recent tiff at a nasi kandar shop in Penang.

Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik said this morning that the allegations were untrue and were aimed at destroying his reputation and that of DAP’s.

“I swear to the God, I have not uttered any remarks of ‘Balik India’ against anyone. Dun [sic] put your words into my mouth. Enough is enough!” Ng wrote on his Twitter micro-blogging account this morning.

He told The Malaysian Insider that he will soon issue a letter of demand to the Malaysian Indian-Muslim Congress (Kimma) Penang Liaison Committee chairman Faruk Raja Mohamed, seeking an apology and a retraction from the latter for making the allegation.

“I will also issue letters on all those who made the same accusation against me. I want them to apologise and retract their accusations, failing which, I will sue them for defamation,” he said.

Ng, who is also Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s political secretary, has been accused of saying, “tutup kedai, balik India” (close up shop, go back to India) to shop owner Syed Kassali Mohamad Aliyar when sealing the latter’s premises on Monday.

Utusan Malaysia quoted Penang Umno chief Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman today as saying that the incident proved that DAP only fought for the rights of the Chinese community.

“This racist struggle was also proven recently during DAP’s recent elections, which was monopolised by the Chinese. Many Indian leaders were defeated.

“Penang Umno regrets how this elected representative had behaved like a samseng (thug). The situation was vastly different during Barisan Nasional’s rule,” the Malay daily quoted him as saying.

The daily also reported that Syed Kassali, when relating the details of the incident on Monday, had accused Ng of behaving like a “samseng” when he allegedly barged into the restaurant without introducing himself and even slapped the arm of a worker.

But Ng insisted that he had not spoken rudely to those present during the stand-off but admitted that a heated argument had ensued.

He explained that he had entered the shop, Restoran Nasi Kandar Mohamad Aliyar, on Gat Lebuh Maccalum at about 11pm on Monday along with several officials from the Penang Municipal Council to instruct the owner to remove his chairs and tables from the five-foot way outside the restaurant.

The furniture, he said, was an obstruction to traffic and had been the main cause of an accident involving two cars that occurred shortly before he arrived.

“What happened if the incident caused the death of a customer? The owner will have blood on his hands then.

“All we did was explain to him that he had infringed local government by-laws by placing his chairs and tables on the five-foot way and all over the road like that,” said Ng.

He stressed that he had walked into the restaurant without any thought of racial issues but was merely there to resolve the situation amicably.

“He asked me how he had violated the by-laws and I explained to him. There was some argument and he uttered some rude remarks but I my focus was not on that... it is nothing to me,” he said.

Ng added that the nasi kandar shop had been operating without a licence since May last year and has since been slapped with a total of four council notices.

Syed Kassali has since lodged a police report on the incident, claiming that Ng had been uncivilised and had uttered racist slurs against himself and his workers. - Malaysian Insider