Lawyer in CNY decor fiasco boasts 'name mentioned 15 times’ in cabinet

Lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz today boasted that his letter demanding a public school remove its CNY decorations succeeded in garnering so much attention in the cabinet, claiming his name was mentioned 15 times.

He had earlier in the day said this to members of the press when met at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), where he was slated to give his statement on a separate matter.

This morning, Khairul (above, right) declared himself victorious after his letter of complaint on the decorations put up at SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 caught the attention of the cabinet and resulted in ministers visiting the school. 

“I won, as because of my one letter, seven ministers went (to the school).

“My name was mentioned 15 times during cabinet meeting,” he said then, later telling reporters he was informed of this by a third party.

When queried as to who informed him, he replied sarcastically, “pay me RM15,000 and I’ll tell you.”

However, Malaysiakini checked with an aide to a minister who refuted the claim.

Elaborating on the matter, Khairul further joked that he would now “pick another school” to complain about so that he can get ministers to visit.

Controversy arose after he wrote to the school in Selangor to demand its Chinese New Years decorations be taken down.

He claimed to have received complaints from parents who were concerned the decorations were an attempt to propagate to Muslims.

It was later revealed that the decorations were removed upon the advice of police to de-escalate the situation following the complaint. 

When it was pointed out that it is common practice for schools to hang decorations for all forms of celebrations, including Chinese New Year and Hari Raya, Khairul merely replied: “It was the issue of being excessive”.

On why he deemed the SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 decorations to be excessive, he said: “Because I feel like it!”

Police investigating under Penal Code

Khairul also informed he was also being investigated by police, under Section 505c of the Penal Code in relation to the school decoration fiasco.

Section 505c pertains to the intent to incite a community to act against another.

This was as the MCMC has agreed to allow police from the Serdang district police headquarters to first question Khairul at the MCMC headquarters in Cyberjaya.

Khaiful was accompanied by lawyer Shaharudin Ali who said the investigation was the result of a police report being lodged against his client.

“I think what my client had said to the police is consistent with his innocence,” said Shaharudin, adding that the questioning lasted over an hour.

Both declined to reveal more on the police questioning, stating they would leave it to police to investigate.

Following the issue over Khairul’s letter, several ministers visited the school yesterday. 

The government later declared there was no threat to race or religion and its stand is that schools are free to mark any festive occasion. - Mkini