BUKIT MERTAJAM, July 4 — Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim Chee Keong has accused a PAS leader of attempting to politicise his absence from his service centre yesterday, claiming it was a deliberate move to paint the centre as non-operational.
Sim said there was already a notice saying the centre was closed for the whole day yesterday — which he explained due to the passing of his grandfather, whose funeral was held that day and attended by his staff.
“While my family was grieving the loss of our beloved grandfather, this PAS leader saw fit to exploit the situation for political gain,” he posted on Facebook, referring to Sungai Buloh PAS chief Zaharudin Muhammad.
Sim said otherwise his doors are always open to the constituency regardless of the racial, religious or political background — with even PAS members coming to seek assistance.
“We had already put up a notice informing the public that the service centre would be closed on July 3. The notice even included four contact numbers in case of emergencies.
“So, either the PAS leader couldn’t read Malay, or he was deliberately attempting to create a malicious perception,” he suggested.
Zaharudin, who is the son-in-law of PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, said yesterday that he had attempted to serve a letter of demand to Sim for alleged defamation.
Zaharudin is reportedly seeking RM1.5 million in damages over Sim’s remark against him over the promotion of a Chinese officer in the Malaysian Armed Forces.
Sim said that regardless, no such letter was found at his office even this morning, and welcomed Zaharudin to settle the matter in court, attaching a Malay pantun as a response.
Last week, Sim had stood firm on his accusations against Zaharudin, whom he had called racist for a remark on Malaysian Armed Forces lieutenant-general Datuk Johnny Lim Eng Seng.
Lim’s promotion had marked a historic milestone, as he became the first ethnic Chinese officer to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the armed forces.
In response, Zaharudin had speculated that Malaysia’s 50th prime minister in 2058 could be a Chinese individual, framing the scenario as a possible outcome of Lim’s promotion.
The post, which also compared the Malaysia’s immigration policies to the Zionist settlement of Palestine, was then deleted.
Islamist party PAS has since said it does not support the social media post by one of its leaders on the promotion, saying it was the personal opinion of the individual involved and “entirely contrary” to PAS’ policies and values.
