Apologise to Penangites too, Guan Eng told

Athi Shankar


The feeling in Penang is that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should apologise to the peopel of Penang for "embarrasing them'.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has apologised to the Johor Sultan but some here want him to aplogise to the people of Penang too, for “embarrassing them.”

Lim was reported to have maligned Johor during his speech at a luncheon organised by the Foreign Correspondents Association of Singapore on Aug 12

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s deputy dean of School of Social Sciences, Dr Sivamurugan Pandian slammed Lim for bringing disrepute to the Chief Minister’s Office by behaving like an opposition leader rather than the state administration chief executive.

“Lim should know that a chief minister is not a person but an institution. He has no luxury for personal views or licence to insult others, in this case Johoreans.

“He should have realised that there are Johoreans living in Penang. He has embarrassed Penangites by making unwarranted comments against another state in Malaysia.

“It’s unbecoming of a chief minister and he should apologise to Penang citizens for his short-sighted and disparaging remarks,” said the academician.

Penang Gerakan’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau head Baljit Singh welcomed Lim’s apology to Johor and their ruler.

However he also called on Pakatan Rakyat leader to extend the apology to all Penangites as well for “the damning embarrassment.”

He accused Lim of being too eager to capitalise and claim credit on the success of police force in reducing the crime rate in Penang.

But he pointed out that Lim had conveniently ignored that the police force came under the federal purview, and not the state.

Since assuming office after the last general election, Baljit said Lim had always courted controversies with his hard hitting and uncompromising remarks.

He advised Lim to learn to control his trouble shooting style because each time he opened his mouth, he invited controversy.

He quoted a Malay proverb: “Sebab mulut badan binasa” (body hurts due to bad mouth) as the best way to describe Lim’s latest exploit.

An upset Sultan

Lim had allegedly said Singaporeans would likely get “kidnapped” in Johor and took a swipe at the state for its crime rate.

When he came under heavy fire, Lim denied making such statements but today he made a complete U-turn and apologised to the Johor Sultan. He however maintained that he was misrepresented by BN-controlled media.

Umno-controlled TV3, during its Buletin Utama prime time news on Monday night, had played an audio recording of a voice that was said to be Lim’s, making disparaging statements about the public security situation in Johor.

Lim was alleged to have said: “Penang was number one last year in terms of cutting crime by 27 per cent. For the first six months… also cut crime by another 25 per cent. Whereas in Johor, a Singaporean is likely to get kidnapped, won’t have that problem when you come to Penang.”

In an interview with the New Straits Times the Sultan said politics should be left to politicians and the rulers should not be dragged into politics.

“Yes, I was offended when I got to know about that statement, but I don’t want to react, because as a ruler, I shouldn’t be dragged into politics.

“Don’t speak for me. I am capable of doing it… I have the interests of my rakyat and also foreigners living in Johor at heart,” said Sultan Ibrahim in an interview with the paper.