Guan Eng forced us to rally, claims Perkasa

Penang Perkasa Youth has laid the blame squarely on Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, saying the latter has forced them to organise a mock funeral in front of his personal residence last week.

Its Youth chief Mohd Risuad Azudin (left) said Lim had forced the action as he had ignored and failed to respond to Perkasa’s demands for about two years.

The well-known Perkasa leader was defending the protest which included a mock funeral for Lim, and the throwing of posters along the streets leading to Komtar, where they held a second demonstration to condemn Lim.

“He must face these issues. He never cared for Penangites or for Perkasa’s demands,” Mohd Risuad told a press conference today.

Perkasa’s demands included a lack of affordable housing in Penang, demolition of hawker stalls, unhappiness with the State Islamic Religious Affairs Council and the recent sale of Bayan Mutiara to a private developer, where they claimed land for a mosque had been made to “disappear” by the state government.

Mohd Risuad said he wants to explain why he held the “funeral” outside Lim’s home, which was to allay the fears of NGOs and political parties who had criticised his actions.

He added that Perkasa was not acting based on “personal interests” but have been reaching out to help non-Malays, too, like the Chinese and Indian communities.

He urged Lim, the DAP secretary-general, to act more professionally as the chief minister.

He lamented that he felt “cheated” by the CM’s office, which had issued him a letter to say that a meeting between Lim and Perkasa members would be held soon, but that never took place.

“Today, I want to say that I am not a racist, I struggle for all communities. The Chinese and Indians have approached me and I have tried to help them equally,” he said.

“Yes, we seem to have behaved in an extreme manner, but it happened because of Lim. He should not blame Umno or the police for our actions,” he added.

“Umno also does not agree with us. We are independent. We did not intend to insult others but we received complaints and acted on them,” he stressed.

Mohd Risuad claimed that the non-Malays who supported Perkasa did so because there were “real” (anak jati) Penangites, just as he is.

‘Lim not a real Penangite’

He added that Lim does not sympathise with the plight of the people because he was not a real Penangite.

“He is from Malacca, he does not understand our sufferings,” said Mohd Risuad.

Meanwhile, Mohd Risuad said criticised Lim for labeling Perkasa as “samseng” (gangsters), saying he did not understand what the word meant.

He said that during the anti-Lynas rally at the Esplande, he had only pointed a shoe at Lim but did not hit him because “I know my limits”.

“Samsengs are those who destroy property, who are violent to the people, and those who do bad things which could destroy things around them,” he said.

“But when I appeared in front of Lim’s home, I apologised to everyone because our problem is only with Lim alone, because he has not fulfilled his election pledges since 2008,” he added.

“I did not disturb the public. We did a mock funeral because Lim is dead to us, he does not exist in Penang as he does not care about our problems,” he stressed.

Mohd Risuad said he was given the task to highlight the problems of Penangites, which is why Perkasa need to rise to deal with the issues, unlike Lim who continues to play politics.

Despite all the brickbats on Perkasa, Mohd Risuad said the group will continue to organise rallies against Lim and the state government, until their demands were met.

He added that if not for the police presence outside Lim’s residence in Pinhorn Road, the group would have camped outside the premises.

He gave assurances not to harm Lim’s family - his wife and children - reiterating that he had issues only with Lim, and will continue to demand that the chief minister pay attention to their demands.

Mohd Risuad also admitted it was a mistake to have conducted a mock funeral, where a framed photograph of Lim was garlanded with flowers, a rite usually carried out by Hindus, saying he did not intend to insult the community.