Ngeh’s statement was also about taking to the streets being a waste of time. What Ngeh said was basically almost the same as what Tunku Aziz said. But Tunku Aziz was demonised while Ngeh was not. In fact, the reverse happened. PAS supports Ngeh’s right to air this personal view, a right not allowed Tunku Aziz.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Perak DAP Chief Ngeh Koo Ham – you are a complete disgrace

(The Kuala Lumpur Post) - Ngeh Koo Ham – you are a complete disgrace. You are just like the other arrogant DAP leaders who do not use their head when they tweet.

How does one describe the DAP leader Manoharan who posted a tweet to run down our badminton hero Lee Chong Wei.

The Perak DAP chief, we are sure, is the kind who would run down Malaysia when he is overseas. We bet our last ringgit he does that.

He is the kind of chauvinist leader who appeals to the many whining Malaysians – who lives in a affluent neighbourhood, has a maid, has three cars or more, travels overseas and enjoys the best of Malaysian life!

One can speculate what are Ngeh’s private views regarding the controversial anti-Islam Innocence of Muslims video clip.

He has a sick mind because only a racist mind would post a tweet that read: “Khairy wants Muslim protest against Sam Bacile. For Islam or his political gains? Are Muslims wasting too much time and energy on this.”

He has tried to wriggle out of this provocative tweet by claiming he was merely posing a question. Come on, Ngeh, you must think we are as stupid as your DAP groupies and zombies.

You should stop lying and come out with an apology instead. You are clearly insensitive but worse, you have offended the majority of Muslims in Malaysia.

A mistake is one thing but to put that offensive question is another thing. You can only say you are a bloody disgrace.

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Ngeh Koo Ham keluarkan pandangan peribadi, kata Hatta Ramli

(The Malaysian Insider) - Bendahari PAS Pusat Dr Hatta Mohd Ramli berkata, pengerusi DAP Perak, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham hanya mengeluarkan pandangan peribadi mengenai demonstrasi menentang klip video nabi yang akan dilangsungkan esok di hadapan Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan tidak mewakili pandangan keseluruhan ahli Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Menurut beliau, di dalam sebuah negara demokratik, setiap orang berhak untuk mengeluarkan pandangan sendiri asalkan ia tidak melampaui batas.

Pada 16 September lalu, Ngeh telah menulis dalam laman sosial Twitter yang bertulis, “Khairy mahu umat Islam berdemo menentang (klip video) Sam Bacile, untuk Islam atau kepentingan politik? Kenapa umat Islam membuang masa dan tenaga untuk semua ini.”

Berikutan dengan kenyataan itu, ia menimbulkan perasaan kurang senang di kalangan beberapa pihak yang mengatakan Ngeh tidak sensitif dengan isu yang berkait dengan agama Islam.

Menurut Dr Hatta lagi, hubungan DAP dan PAS akan terus kekal rapat dalam kerjasama PR biarpun terdapat perbezaan dalam beberapa isu.

(READ MORE HERE)

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The above was what an Umno Blog wrote, and republished by a few news portals and websites. Ngeh has since apologised for that faux pas here: I retract and apologise to any Muslim who is offended by my tweet.

According to Dr Hatta Mohd Ramli of PAS, Ngeh’s ‘outburst’ was his personal view. Dr Hatta also said, “…di dalam sebuah negara demokratik, setiap orang berhak untuk mengeluarkan pandangan sendiri asalkan ia tidak melampaui batas.” (In a democratic country, everyone has a right to air his/her personal view as long as it does not exceed the boundary).

It is apparent that Umno is going to town on this faux pas and this is going to hurt DAP quite badly. And I really don’t blame Umno. If I were in Umno’s Black Ops or Psychological Warfare team I would do the same. This is certainly not an opportunity to be missed.

But that is not the issue I want to talk about. After all, race, religion and personal attacks are the stuff that Malaysian politics is made of. Basically, it is primary school-level politics. And when words fail, they will resort to violence.

So far, over the last year or so, we have seen the fringes of this violence. Rest assured more and harder stuff is coming and those who talk the most will probably hide within the safety of their homes while those innocent of any involvement will have to suffer the consequences and retaliation. This is the sad reality of violence.

Dr Hatta’s conclusion is that everyone has a right to his/her personal view. And Ngeh’s statement was just that, his personal view. Hence PAS will not lose any sleep over what Ngeh said.

It is very comforting and reassuring to hear Dr Hatta say that. But then Dr Hatta is a liberal Muslim and the product of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). Hence he has been moulded into tolerating dissenting views and criticism -- although he may be a leader of an Islamic party and the dissenting view is regarding Islam.

So, not all the more than one billion Muslims are bloodthirsty, medieval-minded, intolerant people. There are many amongst that more than one billion who are open-minded and tolerant of criticism. It is only that they can’t be bothered to argue with the close-minded Muslims. Most of us have learned years ago that it is a waste of time trying to debate with religious bigots, never mind from which religion they may come from -- they are all the same.

Hence that is the bottom line -- just ignore the religious bigots. When you ignore them they eventually just shut up and go home. It is when you layan (engage) them that they get all excited. They want an audience and when you give them an audience they will put on an even greater ‘show’.

A crucial part of Dr Hatta’s statement is that as long as it does not exceed the boundary (asalkan ia tidak melampaui batas) it is okay to express your personal view.

And herein lies the problem.

Where is this boundary and at what point would one be perceived as ‘exceeding the boundary’? Is calling Anwar Ibrahim BABI (Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim), as what the Umno Blogs do, be melampaui batas? What about calling Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Mahatahi? Is this within the boundary (tidak melampaui batas)?

The boundary is invisible and very subjective. I would consider BABI and Mahatahi as definitely melampaui batas. The Umno and Pakatan supporters, however, do not think so. They think this is very kosher. In that case would calling Prophet Muhammad a paedophile be considered kosher or melampaui batas?

I suppose the yardstick would be: do unto others as you would others do unto you. Some Umno Bloggers call my mother a prostitute. I hate that. Hence I would not call any other person’s mother a prostitute since I do not like my mother being called that.

The more crucial issue in this whole Ngeh episode is that Dr Hatta regards what Ngeh said as his personal view and that under a democracy Ngeh has a right to his personal views.

Okay, that is well and fine -- what Ngeh said is his personal view and under a democracy Ngeh has a right to his personal views. But do the DAP people also practice what Dr Hatta’s preaches? I remember when Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim expressed his personal view and he was whacked kau-kau for that. Does not Tunku Aziz also have a right to his personal view just like Ngeh?

What Tunku Aziz said was regarding demonstrations. He did not think Malaysians should take to the streets, as this is a violation of Malaysian laws. (Whether we agree or not with that law would be another matter but it would still be breaking the law).

Ngeh’s statement was also about taking to the streets being a waste of time. What Ngeh said was basically almost the same as what Tunku Aziz said. But Tunku Aziz was demonised while Ngeh was not. In fact, the reverse happened. PAS supports Ngeh’s right to air this personal view, a right not allowed Tunku Aziz.

The opposition has to decide whether freedom of speech is allowed or not. No need to ask Umno or Barisan Nasional this question. Umno and Barisan Nasional do not allow freedom of speech. It is the opposition that is fighting for freedom of speech. So we need to ask the opposition this question, not ask Umno or Barisan Nasional.

It appears like the opposition is not consistent with its stand regarding freedom of speech. When we say something they don’t like they whack us. They call us all sorts of foul names. They call us a traitor and turncoat. They call us a Trojan horse. But when they commit a faux pas they scream freedom of speech to squirm out of their mistake.

And please stop this “if you criticise the opposition that means you support Barisan Nasional” nonsense. That is so, so childish. Some of us might do just that, support Barisan Nasional, just to teach you phoneys and fakes a lesson. Barisan Nasional may be bad but at least they do not pretend to be angels. They are bad and proud of it. You opposition people pretend to be angels but behind that mask you are no different from Barisan Nasional.

Just practice what you preach. Walk the talk. Then you will get our support. Until then, shape up or ship out. Your choice!