Zahid comes to Guan Eng’s defence over viral report

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has come to Lim Guan Eng’s defence following a viral report alleging that the latter said Perikatan Nasional would destroy temples in Penang if the coalition were to come to power.

Zahid, who is also the BN chairperson, said the report was based on an old event and was purportedly circulated to smear Lim’s name.

“I have read the report, it happened a while ago but has been circulated to smear Lim’s name.

“I think it’s okay to have political differences, but it must come with good practices. Don’t condone character assassination,” he told reporters after the launch of the 2023 National Entrepreneur Week and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Week at Dataran Merdeka today.

It is unclear which report Zahid was referring to.

However, MalaysiaNow, which quoted China Press, stated that Lim’s comments were made at the Tian Fu Gong White Dragon King Tour event in Jelutong, Penang, last Friday.

The DAP chairperson claimed that his speech, originally made in Mandarin, was spun by some portals.

DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng

Lim said his speech was made in reference to a case of a Hindu temple in Kedah being demolished. Lim attached a screenshot of the 2020 report to his statement.

MalaysiaNow also reported Lim as saying that if “’Green Wave’ doesn't like the temples they see, they would destroy it”.

"But as long as Penang remains the same, people can still worship the gods and Buddha,” MalaysiaNow reported.

Incorrectly translated

China Press has also issued a clarification that MalaysiaNow incorrectly translated Lim’s quotes.

"MalaysiaNow quoted China Press as saying that Lim claimed that the ‘Green Wave’ would demolish the Buddhist temple.

"In fact, the translation of the website was incorrect; neither the headline nor the news content mentioned Buddhist temples or Chinese temples," the article said.

The article stated that the original publication cited Lim as saying that the ‘Green Wave’ would result in temples of other races being destroyed, but that as long as Penang remained (out of PN's hands), freedom of religion would be upheld.

The article also included a "verbatim" transcript, in which Lim reportedly said in the “Green Wave”, temples found to be an "eyesore" - especially Hindu’s - might get torn down. - Mkini