Eric See-To denies insulting Quran over ‘lighad’ controversy

 

BN Deputy Strategic Communications Director Datuk Eric See-To has rejected accusations of insulting the Quran following backlash over his social media commentary on the Arabic word “lighad”.

The expression was recently used by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the Budget 2027 presentation.

Eric, also known online as Lim Sian See, claimed that his original post poked fun at political vocabulary using definitions provided in news reports.

He stated that cybertroopers manipulated his comments by placing them alongside a verse from the Islamic holy book to falsely frame him as mocking Islamic scripture.

“When I wrote that comment, I had absolutely no idea that the word existed in the Quran. I was commenting on the word based on the definition provided by Sinar Harian and poking fun at politicians,” he said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

“I did not include any Quranic verses alongside my comment or in my post. The excerpt was added by cybertroopers, who then combined it with a screenshot of my comment and published it on their page to make it look as though I was commenting on the Quranic verse,” Eric added.

“I was not the one who arranged or published that composite image. When this combined image was shared without its original context, people were led to believe I was commenting on the Quranic verse placed above it. That was not the context of my original comment,” he said.

Despite condemnation from political figures across UMNO Youth, AMK, and DAP, former Bachok MP Nik Mohamad Abduh defended Eric, calling the incident a misunderstanding orchestrated by online instigators.

The controversy prompted Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Dr Zulkifli Hassan to issue a warning against twisting Quranic expressions.

Explaining that “lighad” means “tomorrow” in reference to preparing for the afterlife, Zulkifli stressed that freedom of speech must respect religious sensitivities and urged the public to avoid converting sacred texts into political satire.— Focus Malaysia