Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has lashed out at an Umno assemblyperson for trying to create racial tension among the different ethnic groups in the state.  

azlan Lim, who is also DAP national secretary-general, held an emergency press conference at Komtar today, demanding an apology and retraction from Pulau Betong assemblyperson Muhammad Farid Saad for his “racist behaviour”.

 Lim said Muhammad Farid had acted as if he did not need the support of the non-Malays and merely wished to play racial games by making an issue about a tourism booklet distributed in Balik Pulau.

He was responding to a news article in Utusan Malaysia today, headlined “Booklet twists history, insults Malays”, which said the state government had been distributing the document, My Balik Pulau , to schools.

Muhammad Farid had accused Pakatan Rakyat of twisting history and insulting the Malay community.

NONE In the report, Muhammad Farid ( right ) was quoted as saying that he was not aware of the motive of the document, but that it appeared to be an attempt by ‘certain quarters’ to blur the historical facts about the area, which is populated largely by Malays.

He said the colourful 12-page booklet also appeared to show as if it was not the Malays who had first inhabited the area.

According to the Malay daily, the booklet was published by the Penang Arts Education Society, an advisory council appointed by the state, the Tourism Ministry and telecommunications company DiGi.

“One of the contradictions (in the document) is that Masjid Kongsi was built in 1900, when it had already been there a century before that,” said Muhammad Farid.

“This tries to show that it was the Chinese community that first inhabited Penang and built the Xuan Wu temple in 1880,” Muhammad Farid added.

‘State had no role in flyer’

Lim denied that the state government had anything to do with the booklet, which also carries the state logo.

“Before Chinese New Year, he (Muhammad Farid) is trying to sow the seeds of hatred among the races in Penang,” Lim said.

“I regret that this Umno assemblyperson is irresponsible and has shown that he can only play with racial sentiments,” he added.

“The issues he raised are baseless... but I do not know why the state government logo was used.”

According to Lim, he was aware that the booklet had been around since Barisan Nasional’s rule and may have been contributed by the federal government via the Tourism Ministry.

“With this, Muhammad Farid seems to have implicated himself, since the booklet may have come from the federal government,” said Lim.

“It is a sin to slander others who are not wrong, so please apologise and retract your words or the state government will act accordingly.”

No Chinese New Year joy for Guan Eng

Lim said the state could no longer tolerate Muhammad Farid’s “racist behaviour”.

He lamented that he could not enjoy his Chinese New Year break as he had to go to Teluk Kumbar tonight to clarify the matter with the people.

“We will fight (him) to the end, based on facts and the truth, to put an end to his evil behaviour to create tension and hatred among the races here,” he added.

The state government has had several run-ins with Utusan Malaysia , accusing the Umno-owned daily of being a propagandist for the party and BN.

Lim had recently taken the newspaper to court over articles deemed defamatory to the state.