BN PANICS OVER YEE-SANG: From death threats against Najib to Psy, cops now reveal "sabotage" plan

There was a threat to sabotage Psy's performance at the recent Barisan Nasional (BN) Chinese New Year Open House, said Penang police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi.

"We have received information of a threat to sabotage Psy's performance so from the night he touched down in Penang, we have been providing round-the-clock tight security to him until he left on Monday night," he said.

Abdul Rahim said it was due to the massive crowd and the tight security that the Korean popstar was delayed in getting on stage during the event.

It was widely speculated that the star of "Oppa Gangnam Style" fame had refused to go up on stage to join the BN leaders in the tossing of "yee sang" or "low sang" in the event that had drawn a crowd of up to 60,000.

Death threats

Penang BN chief Teng Chang Yeow had said this morning that there was a death threat against the Korean singer's life and that the police had to secure the area before he could go up on stage which had resulted in the delay.

"It was very crowded that day and not easy to keep a tight watch on Psy so we had to be extra careful when escorting him from the tent to the stage as we have to cover all angles," said Abdul Rahim.

He agreed that the tighter security had caused a delay in getting Psy on stage on Monday.

He said the police had been instructed to keep a tight watch on the superstar from the moment he touched down in Penang on Sunday night.

"Bukit Aman had informed us of the threat to sabotage his performance so we were extra careful to keep his whereabouts a secret throughout his stay here," he said.

He said even on Monday evening, after the event at Han Chiang field, when Psy was spotted at a restaurant in Tanjung Tokong, it had immediately drawn hundreds of fans there.

"Within a few minutes, there was a crowd of 300 fans in that area wanting to see him and we had to immediately take him away," he said.

Teng had earlier today said that they were told to beef up security as the K-pop sensation had received death threats before coming here.

He denied speculations that Najib left the stage after Psy did not come up when invited to toss "yee sang" with BN leaders.

He had said the tossing of "yee sang" was also not part of Psy's programme and that there was a misunderstanding when the event emcee did not follow her cue.

The open house, at Han Chiang field, was attended by more than 60,000 people. The "Oppa Gangnam Style" singer and Asian Wave 2012 winner Shila Amzah were the highlights of the event that started at 9am and ended at 1pm.