Bukit Gantang MP Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin today defended his tweet on this year's Merdeka celebration, arguing that his remark on the national flag as "unlucky stripes" was misrepresented.
"I am not reinterpreting our flag to mean that it is an unlucky flag, I am not rebranding it. I am saying that it is unfortunate that it has been used for the sake of political purposes.
Why is it unfortunate? If the BN government lumps the national flag with it political campaign tag, "promises fulfilled", this in itself discredits and belittles our flag," Nizar told Malaysiakini.
He argued that his tweet was mistranslated by The Star and he called on its readers to look at his original tweet in Malay.
The PAS leader had tweeted:"'Janji ditepati' malang prayaan kemerdekaan tahun ini dibuat oleh cabinet BN, luntur semangat nak kibarkan jalur gemilang, jalur malang!"
The Star on Page 19 of its edition today translated his tweet as "‘Promises Fulfilled' - unfortunate that Merdeka celebration this year is organised by BN cabinet, no mood to wave Jalur Gemilang, unlucky stripes!"
The former Perak MB has come under strong criticism for this from BN leaders, who have deemed his remarks "improper" and "unpatriotic".
"I am not reinterpreting our flag to mean that it is an unlucky flag, I am not rebranding it. I am saying that it is unfortunate that it has been used for the sake of political purposes.Why is it unfortunate? If the BN government lumps the national flag with it political campaign tag, "promises fulfilled", this in itself discredits and belittles our flag," Nizar told Malaysiakini.
He argued that his tweet was mistranslated by The Star and he called on its readers to look at his original tweet in Malay.
The PAS leader had tweeted:"'Janji ditepati' malang prayaan kemerdekaan tahun ini dibuat oleh cabinet BN, luntur semangat nak kibarkan jalur gemilang, jalur malang!"
The Star on Page 19 of its edition today translated his tweet as "‘Promises Fulfilled' - unfortunate that Merdeka celebration this year is organised by BN cabinet, no mood to wave Jalur Gemilang, unlucky stripes!"
The former Perak MB has come under strong criticism for this from BN leaders, who have deemed his remarks "improper" and "unpatriotic".
'I stand by the meaning in BM'
However, Nizar strongly denied insulting the national flag, insisting that they had "misinterpreted" his tweet.
"I stand by the meaning in BM and I maintain that I have been misrepresented by the translation.
"The government is the one hijacking our Merdeka Day celebration (with its theme) and it wants to blame me. My tweet interpreted in its own way," Nizar added.
Among others, The Star reported MIC information chief P Kamalanathan saying he was not shocked by Nizar's tweet and he called on the former Perak MB to withdraw his statement and apologise to Malaysians.
"Leaders like him only serve to create disunity and promote hatred among Malaysians. A man of his stature should not come up with such ignorant remarks," Kamalanathan said.
Umno supreme council member Saifuddin Abdullah said Nizar was "unpatriotic" and "unnationalistic" for demeaning the Jalur Gemilang, noting that the name of the national flag was as "noble and sacred" as the flag itself.
The slogan for this year' 55th Merdeka Day celebration, "55 Tahun Merdeka, Janji Ditepati" (55 Years of Independence, Promises Fulfilled), continues to be lambasted by critics as a BN political campaign for the coming general election.
However Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim brushed aside criticisms, saying that such was the normal practice in other countries.
"I stand by the meaning in BM and I maintain that I have been misrepresented by the translation.
"The government is the one hijacking our Merdeka Day celebration (with its theme) and it wants to blame me. My tweet interpreted in its own way," Nizar added.
Among others, The Star reported MIC information chief P Kamalanathan saying he was not shocked by Nizar's tweet and he called on the former Perak MB to withdraw his statement and apologise to Malaysians."Leaders like him only serve to create disunity and promote hatred among Malaysians. A man of his stature should not come up with such ignorant remarks," Kamalanathan said.
Umno supreme council member Saifuddin Abdullah said Nizar was "unpatriotic" and "unnationalistic" for demeaning the Jalur Gemilang, noting that the name of the national flag was as "noble and sacred" as the flag itself.
The slogan for this year' 55th Merdeka Day celebration, "55 Tahun Merdeka, Janji Ditepati" (55 Years of Independence, Promises Fulfilled), continues to be lambasted by critics as a BN political campaign for the coming general election.
However Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim brushed aside criticisms, saying that such was the normal practice in other countries.
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