An official of the Malaysian Opposition party, Democratic Action Party (DAP) and secretary to an assemblyman is under public scrutiny for brazenly posting a hateful and religious offending Eid greeting in the social networking site.
Alan Tang, who is the secretary to DAP assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng, has been accused of posting the Eid greeting on Facebook earlier this week which had the picture of a roasted pig head along with the 'lemang' and 'ketupat' (traditional rice dishes). The offensive post also carried a caption inviting the Muslims to enjoy the dish.
However, Tang has alleged the post was forged and was published from a forged account on his name. He said it was an attempt to malign his name.
"The attack was politically motivated and was meant to tarnish the image of the party and me," Tang was quoted by The Star saying.
Tang said he came to know of the post only when someone who saw the picture informed him. The greeting was deleted soon after.
Tang, referring it to a case of sabotage which led to the creation of a fake page on his name and had all his details, said, "I believe that the post and my details including phone number and address was put up and screen shots were taken before the page was deleted."
"The screen shots were then spread to create racial discord."
The post naturally evoked public wrath as it falls in the list of yet another attempt to create religious and racial discrimination in the muti-ethnic Malaysia. Recently, sex bloggers Alvin and Vivian created a stir posting a similar breaking of fast greeting with pork.
Tang, further said that post the greeting, he had received several death threats which forced him to register a police complaint. He submitted the suspect's name who issued him death threats but refused to make it public.
On Saturday, disturbed Tang posted on the social network clarifying his stance in Malay which translated to English reads, "I, Alan Tang, very sorry for this day That someone found copying and photo ID of my FB and spread to the newspaper and degrading acts of Islam! I never intend to humiliate any religion... I'm very proud to be in a country like Malaysia which accepts different religions. This is an attempt at defamation and slander. I have reported this to the police! I expect the police will lead this case closely and catch the parties involved in the case of this discord!"
While a Bernama report stated Johor area CID chief ACP Nor Azizan Anan confirming that a complaint has been filed on the incident and Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission was investigating the matter.
Reacting to the incident, several political party heads expressed concern over its possible repercussions of the harmony of the country's varied ethnicity.
