Guan Eng fumes as cops call for a date on CNY eve

The police want to query Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng again over his Nov 23 statement urging BN component parties to quit BN.

Lim asked Gerakan, MCA, MIC and SUPP to quit over the coalition’s stand on PAS’ proposed Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

But this time, the police want a session with him on Jan 27, which is the eve of Chinese New Year.

“They may as well arrest me! Don’t they know what day it is?” Lim told Malaysiakini.

“It is understandable if they do not respect me as the chief minister, but the Chinese New Year eve is a very special day for us,” he added.

The eve of Chinese New Year is very special for the Chinese community as most will hold reunion dinners with families and relatives from far and near.

The community also deemed it "bad luck" to have the authorities come knocking at one's door during the Chinese New Year period.

Lim will not cooperate with police

Lim said he will not give in to the police this time, and would rather be detained as he has a packed schedule during the celebration.

Last Thursday, two police officers from Ampang, Selangor, queried Lim at his office for 30 minutes over his statement.

He is being probed under Section 4(1)(c) of the 1948 Sedition Act which deals with publishing seditious statement.

Five reports were lodged against him in Johor, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

One of the individuals who lodged the report was a 13-year-old boy from Ampang.

Lim had described the probe as “frivolous” and cried “double-standards”, saying he had already answered the police’s queries when they met him last week.

The DAP secretary-general had previously complained that no action was taken against Gerakan's vice-president Dominic Lau for allegedly "insulting" religious schools.

Dominic had called on the government to review fundings for religious schools but had retracted and apologised for his remark.

Lim said opposition leaders who had done the same were still subjected to police probe and detention for their alleged "seditious" remarks.

Why can't an MP give his views?

Lim denied questioning Islam, saying he had merely given his views on the proposed amendments to Act 355, claiming it was not in line with the Federal Constitution.

“If I cannot give my views, how can we debate this matter in Parliament. I am an MP, I will certainly raise the issue in the August house,” said the Bagan parliamentarian.

The proposed amendments, tabled by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, sought to remove the present punishment cap on syariah courts and raise it to 30 years' jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the rotan.

The current syariah punishment is capped at three years’ imprisonment, RM5,000 fine and six strokes of the rotan.- Mkini