such stupid answers from the home minister

remember how that ah-mad is-maid guy made me laughed so much? now it is the home minister’s turn (not that it is the first time). it is his ‘bodohness’ that made, i’m sure not only me, but others like aisheman laugh.

actually today being a sunday, i had normally decided not to blog on politics on a sunday but this guy made me laughed so much with his interview answers that i just gotta post up his interview direct from malaysiakini and let you judge for yourself how silly the dunce er… home minister was. btw, if you read his name backwards – hamid syed – it sounds like in hokkien, ‘what shit?’. apt!! (picture taken from malaysiakini)

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Malaysiakini
Minister: Journalist to be blamed too
Andrew Ong | Sep 13, 08 7:58pm

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar has implied that Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng was also to be blamed for the public furore over the ‘Chinese squatter’ remark.

“The whole thing was started by her, (so) it was best that we talked to her,” Syed Hamid said in reply to a question during a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman today.

Asked to elaborate, Syed Hamid said the ripple effects from Tan’s article had caused “the polemic and fear” thus warranting investigations by the police.

“That information is from her and it was published. (Since) it has been published, it is best that we get to the bottom of it by getting the information from her.

Syed Hamid was referring to Tan’s four-paragraph report which quoted Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail calling the Chinese community ‘squatters’.

His remarks were sparked an outcry among the predominantly Chinese political parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional, particularly MCA and Gerakan, but Ahmad had claimed he was quoted out of context.

The protracted row only came to an end after the Umno supreme council stepped in and suspended Ahmad of his membership for three years.

‘We’ve punished Ahmad’

On why Tan was detained under the Internal Security Act and not Ahmad, Syed Hamid said that police investigations are on-going.

“I don’t think we treat politicians differently. We have taken action. That politician has been suspended three years by the party. He lose all his position. At the same time, there is a (police) report of sedition (against Ahmad),” he said.

Asked why the police had to invoke the ISA on Tan instead of just calling her in to assist with their investigations, Syed Hamid said that the decision was the prerogative of the police.

“When the police feel it is best to bring the person in under the ISA, (and) they will do so,” he said.

The minister also said that Tan was detained because of alleged threats on her physical safety.

The reporter was released this afternoon after being held for 16 hours. She was the focal point of some 50 journalists who quizzed Syed Hamid for some 10 minutes at the press conference.

His refusal to entertain more questions left journalists feeling irate. Many of the members of the press had donned black tops and yellow ribbons in protest of Tan’s arrest.

On RPK and Teresa Kok

Syed Hamid however refused to confirm if there would be further arrests under the ISA and brushed off claims that a crackdown was underway to stop Pakatan Rakyat from seizing power on Sept 16.

On the arrest of Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Syed Hamid argued that the popular blogger was detained because he was unrepentant and still “creating tension” after being slapped with numerous charges and investigated under a slew of laws.

“The bottom line is tension. Teresa Kok is the same. She started a very sensitive issue with the question of the azan and it should be stopped,” he added

Kok – an MP and Selangor exco member – was arrested following the publication of an article by Umno-owned Utusan Melayu alleging that she had protested against a mosque. The mosque concerned had denied the report.

Syed Hamid said that based on police intelligence, the “tension” caused had resulted in people hoarding food since the Permatang Pauh by-election.

He qualified this by referring to Armed Forces chief General Abdul Aziz Zainal’s statement that racial tensions are currently high and the national security situation is unstable.

Below are excerpts of the 18-minute press conference:

Q: Is Ahmad Ismail above the law?

A: He has been punished so far as the party as concerned. At the same time there is a report against Ahmad Ismail and we are investigating it. I don’t think we treat politicians differently. We have taken action. That politician has been suspended three years by the party. He lose all his position. At the same time there is a report of sedition.

Why arrest the reporter when you can call her up for questioning?

Whatever action that we take, there will be questions asked. The whole thing was started by her, it is best that we talk to her. If she is a threat, she would be brought in under Section 73 for 60 days. She would be held. When we have questioned her and we are satisfied with her answers, we just release her. I don’t think we are being unfair nor have we mistreated her.

What do you mean by ‘she started the whole thing’?

If you are going to analyse (what I say), I’d be appearing before a defence counsel. Let me say that the (news) report was made by her. Therefore just now when I introduced the subject, I said that we don’t want hearsay information. That information is from her and it was published. (Since) it was published, it is best that we get to the bottom of it by getting the information from her.

In the whole context, it was the overall incident and the subsequent follow up debates on the matter that started the polemic and created fear (among the public). I think we had acted professionally and after one day we had released her. I think that is a very good cause of action.

Why couldn’t the police just ask her to come in for questioning?

When the police feel it is best to bring the person in under the ISA, they will do so. The most important thing is not to exercise unfairness. When they find what they wanted and realise that she is not a security threat and she is not disturbing public order, they release her immediately.

That is why it is not an exercise on the part of the minister to hold the person under Section 8 which is two years (detention) straight away. The police feel that they should handle it and avoid any misunderstanding.

Do you as a minister feel that the ISA arrests were justified?

I’m a minister and politician. If I start to interfere, people will say I have a political motive. I cannot interfere with the police.

Would there be more arrests? People are saying that this is a mini-Operasi Lalang.

Really? Let me know if there are more (arrests). You shouldn’t ask me. We have done the arrests and so far there is no other arrests.

Is this part of a crackdown to stop Anwar Ibrahim from taking power?

If you look at the whole thing, there is no logic at all for it (ISA arrests) to be related to Sept 16. Sept 16 is a political move. They (PKR) have sent people to Taiwan. If they are successful, they can replace the government, then go ahead. It has nothing to do with the arrests which has to do with public order.  

Watch 14-min Syed Hamid’s press conference