Why Meta, MCMC are powerless to stop Firdaus, Zamri, Tamrin, Cikgu Chandra from ‘spewing venom’

 

JUST four days ago, National DAP assistant publicity secretary Ganabatirau Veraman brought some cheer to peace-loving Malaysians with news that a request has been submitted to Facebook’s parent Meta to disable the FB access of Malaysia’s ‘notorious quartet’.

The four named by the Selangor DAP deputy-chairman are controversial Muslim convert preachers Firdaus Wong Wai Hung and Zamri Vinoth as well as anti-kuil haram vigilantes/activists Tamim Dahri Abdul Razak and Cikgu Chandra @ S. Chandrasegaran.

Although a scroll through MCMC’s own FB page indicates so such request was made by the nation’s telco regulator, the Klang MP’s FB post did bring some reprieve insofar as to curtail racial/religious tensions from boiling over is concerned.

This is despite Ganabatirau found himself snubbed by Firdaus who teased him of “being drunk” while uploading his FB post.

“I’m still alive and kicking. You better take good care of your constituency,” jibed the Multiracial Revert Muslims’ (MRM) founder.

“Help your community out there. Reduce gangsterism there. Monitor and take action against land encroachers. We’re not your wives, hence there is no need to keep on chanting our names. Don’t miss us too much else you become lovesick.”

With due respect to both Ganabatirau and MCMC, the cyberspace is a vast universe, hence even if Meta were to comply with MCMC’s request to silence the quartet, there are still other social media platforms at their disposals – be they X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Threads (which popularity has caught up) or even Telegram or WhatsApp groups, to  name a few.

Moreover, Firdaus for one has proven his tech-savviness vis-à-vis his agility or versatility by holding at least three if not more FB accounts at the same time (not to mention access to other social media platforms).

Despite his FB accounts having “kena benam” (Malay slang for “taken down”) by Meta, Zamri who is the Gerakan Anti Rumah Anutan Haram (GARAH) co-founder alongside Tamim has proudly declared a new FB account barely 48 or 72 hours later.

Likewise, Cikgu Chandra at 47 may be the oldest among the quartet but he, too, has outwitted both the MCMC and Meta to open a new FB account while his TikTok account remains barred in Malaysia.

And what a reception the former private school teacher-turned-activist whose three cars were torched and house broken into recently received from his rightist target audience with 60K likes, 4.8K comments, 4.4K shares and 1M views in a short span of time!

At the end of the day, it has to be understood that there are simply so many tech geniuses in the rightist fraternity who are prepared to offer free social media consultancy to the quartet in the quest to broaden their outreach.

Alas, like it or not, clamping down on their social media access is just one avenue when the more effective – cruel or otherwise – is to throw the book at them or to let the long arm of the law get to them physically.

This means in Zamri’s case, to ensure that the police win its case in charging the unrepentant independent preacher under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code which is punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine or both upon conviction for making statements that led to public alarm and distress during a gathering outside the Sogo shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 7.

Moreover, Zamri faces another charge under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act over a statement in which he allegedly insulted the Indian community in Penang which is punishable by a maximum RM5,000 fine, up to three years in prison or both if convicted.

Or in Tamrin’s case, make sure he does not go scot-free over the destruction of a sacred Hindu soolam (trident) at an old Langkawi temple after the police has referred the matter to the Kedah prosecution office with charges under Section 295 of the Penal Code with the intention of insulting a religion.

The heinous crime is punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine or both upon conviction. At the time of writing, both Zamri and Tamrin have fled to Thailand, according to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Ismail. –  Focus Malaysia