MCA boss: Noh Omar must be crazy

MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek has lambasted Selangor Umno liasion committee chairperson Noh Omar for calling on the authorities to investigate the shower canteen whistleblower under the Sedition Act.

"He must be crazy... This is what we call an abuse of the Sedition Act," he told Malaysiakini.

Chua said it was theprincipal of SMK Alam Megah who should be charged with sedition for telling students to return to their ancestral lands.

As for the incident in SK Seri Pristana, the MCA president said parents were just concerned that their children were not being treated in a fair manner.

These parents, he pointed out, should have been engaged in a proper forum to find an amicable solution.

"The Sri Pristana headmaster as well as the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) should have engaged the parents. It is regrettable that a senior Umno leader like Noh Omar could make such a comment," he said.

Chua reiterated his call to review the module used in teachers' training colleges, adding that these teachers should also be referred to counseling sessions.

'Selective sedition complex'

Also taking Noh Omar to task, MIC strategy director S Vell Paari said if the authorities initiated a probe against the parent under the Sedition Act, then he would reprint the same photographs and allegations in his daily, Tamil Nesan.

"Since I spoke to Guneswari Kelly (the mother who uploaded the photographs on Facebook) and promised to stand by her, I would then challenge the authorities to charge me for sedition as well.

"I am speechless that a veteran Umno leader could make such a contemptuous remark," he added.

Vell Paari stressed that the issue was not about race or religion but parents being concerned about their children being made to eat in an unhygienic place.        

"If anyone is to be charged with anything, it should be the headmaster who must be hauled up for child abuse," he added.            
The MIC leader also questioned why Noh Omar did not view the actions of those who insulted Hinduism, called for the burning of bibles and protested with a severed cow head as seditious.

"I think the Umno leader suffers from a selective sedition complex and needs to consult a doctor to treat this serious ailment," he said.

Gerakan expresses regret

Noh Omar also came under fire from Gerakan Youth, which dismissed his Sedition Act call as unreasonable.

"It is against public policy and it would deter people from reporting such incidents to the authorities in the future," said the wing’s leader Dr Domini Lau in a statement today.

He also said that the police should not abuse the Sedition Act as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had already promised to abolish the draconian legislation.

"The act should not be used to stifle genuine and legitimate voices, opinions or complaints that are constructive and seek to nurture and not to destroy," he added.

Noh Omar made the call after visiting the primary school in Sungai Buloh. He also pledged support for SK Seri Pristana’s headmaster.