Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the appearance of a personal feud with a veteran NGO activist was the media’s doing.

Lim said he acknowledged the differences of opinions between him and Consumers Association of Penang president SM Mohamed Idris as “it is normal”.

NONE He denied issuing personal attacks on Mohamed Idris ( left ), saying that the newspapers, especially The Star , had “taken words out of his mouth”.

Lim clarified that when he mentioned the words “old man” in reference to Mohamed Idris, he had also said in the same breath that the activist was very much “respected” ( disegani ).

“However, that word was taken out. In the case of The Star , it was there in the first report but in the following one, that line had been taken out,” he said in a press conference today.

“If you think that saying Mohamed Idris is a revered old man is wrong, then I do not know what to say,” he told reporters.

Lim urged The Star not to contradict their reports, and asked the newspaper to issue a correction immediately.

“My words have been taken out of context just to create a controversy when there is none. This is unfair to me,” he said.

‘Old and respected’ man

Recently, Lim and Mohamed Idris had publicly argued about whether the state had carried out public consultation over a proposed mega-project to ease traffic congestion in Penang.

The controversy centred around a 6.5km Gurney Drive-Bagan Ajam undersea tunnel, the 12km road connecting Tanjung Bungah-Teluk Bahang, a 4.2km Gurney Drive-Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu bypass and a 4.6km Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu-Bandar Baru Air Itam bypass.

In one of his press conferences, the DAP national secretary general said it was not the first time that Mohamed Idris had “made a mistake”.

Mohamed Idris had previously accused the state government of building a theme park on gazetted forest land in Teluk Bahang, he added, for which he later apologised.

“I never revealed his repeated apologies because he is an old man and a respected figure so we let the matter rest,” Lim had told reporters then.

In an immediate response, The Star had quoted Mohamed Idris as saying in a March 14 report that, “Even though I’m called an old man and as one who is going to lose his memory, I don’t mind it and I’m not following it with any action.”

Lim denied ever saying that Mohamed Idris was “losing his memory” and blamed it on “you-know-who” in the media, which he said was trying to instigate the senior activist.

He also took issue with The Star ’s “election driven agenda” for prolonging the issue with an analysis by a senior journalist and a letter from an anonymous person linked to BN.

Meanwhile, Lim said he had spoken to Mohamed Idris on Tuesday and explained the situation to him, saying he has no personal problems with the latter.

He added that the NGO’s views, although different from the state’s, would always be accepted.

He assured that the NGO, like any other, would continue to be invited for further meetings and discussions with the state government.