Now, police go after Teo Nie Ching

(Malaysiakini) - The police have started investigating the case of Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching's presence in a surau last month which sparked a controversy over her speech and the way she had dressed.

When contacted today, Teo said that the Kajang district police headquarters called her yesterday evening asking her to come in for questioning today.

However, she declined, saying that she was too busy. No other dates have been set as yet, Teo said.

Teo also said that, when asked, the police refused to tell her under which act she is being investigated for.

"They also didn't want to give me a copy of the police report lodged against me. In fact, they didn't even want to tell me who made that police report.

"I asked them and they didn't want to answer," she said.

However, she said that she is still mulling over whether or not to accede to the police request.

One sided yes, no, tug-of- war

Teo ignited a firestorm when Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia front-paged a photo of her speaking at a surau in Kajang Sentral on Aug 22, where the congregation had invited her into the prayer hall.

Apart from the photo which showed the first-term MP in a tight kebaya similar to the Singapore Airlines flight attendant's uniform with her head uncovered, the newspaper had also described her speech as tazkirah (religious advice).

In her own defence, Teo had said that she was explaining the Selangor government's policies and assistance programs in her speech.She also said that it was the surau committee which had invited her in.

The Selangor Islamic Council suspended the committee and issued Teo a caution for addressing the gathering at the surau.

Later,Teo had apologised to the Sultan of Selangor for the incident.