Teresa Kok had egg smashed into her hand at Penang ceramah, vows to carry on
The Malaysian Insider – 23 hours agoRELATED CONTENT
- Teresa Kok had egg smashed into her hand at Penang ceramah, vows to carry on
An egg was smashed into the hand of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok (pic) at a ceramah in Permatang Pauh, Penang, last night.
Kok, who has been at the centre of a controversy since the release of her "Onederful Malaysia" Chinese New Year video clip, had just finished making a speech at the event in Taman Cermai, Sama Gagah, about 11.30pm when a man walked up to her, as if he wanted to shake her hand.
When she started to greet the man, he smashed the egg on her extended hand.
The man then coolly walked away but was cornered by angry Pakatan Rakyat members. He was subsequently taken away by policemen who were on duty at the ceramah.
Kok, who is also DAP vice-chairman, was quickly escorted away from the site.
When contacted by The Malaysian Insider early this morning, Kok said she would not let such incidents intimidate her.
"I will just carry on. Such incidents and threats will not make me cower and stay home.
"I believe that I am not in the wrong, despite what I have been accused of," she said.
Kok said she was also amused that an Umno-owned Malay daily had sent out a text message alert shortly after the incident, stating that she had been slapped by an unknown man at the ceramah.
However, the erroneous message was quickly corrected with another text message alert.
"They (the daily) have nothing better to do? They want to put me on national news...make sure that I am harmed," she said.
Kok said only Umno stand to lose from the nasty incidents that have happened to her of late.
"Umno can deny that the groups against me are not with the party but the more they try to do things to me, the more backlash Umno will get," she said.
Kok also said she had played her controversial Chinese New Year video clip during the ceramah to let the audience, who were mainly Malays, judge the content for themselves.
She said she believed that a majority of them was seeing the 10-minute video clip for the first time.
"My detractors have twisted and turned the video into making me a scapegoat and to divert attention.
"So I wanted to show it to them so that they can decide for themselves which part of the video supposedly insult the Malays, the monarch, Islam and leaders," she said.
She added that her PR colleagues from PAS did not think her video was offensive to Malays or Islam.
Kok had been accused of insulting the Malays, the security forces, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in her satirical Chinese-language video which was uploaded on YouTube on January 27.
Although she had clarified that she was not insulting anyone, a coalition of Muslim non-governmental organisations in Kuala Lumpur launched a rally, slaughtered two chickens and offered a RM1,200 reward to anyone who would slap her as a sign of their anger towards PR leaders for allegedly insulting the Malay leadership and Islam.
Worried for her safety, Kok lodged a police report on the matter but Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi brushed off Kok's concerns, saying that a slap cannot be considered a threat.
On February 19, less than two weeks after the "reward" was offered, Kok found red paint splashed at her service centre and a dead chicken on the doorstep of the premises.
Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, who witnessed the incident with the egg, said certain groups of people have become bolder because the federal government had failed to take action on the various threats made against Kok.
He said the government's inaction is like an endorsement for the groups' unruly behaviour.
"Something must be done. Imagine if it was not just an egg that she was attacked with," he said.
Sim, who related the incident to the Malaysian Insider, said he was shocked that the man, who appears to be in his 30s, was so bold.
"He was in the middle of the ceramah. He had a smile on his face when he approached her alone.
"Before the ceramah, I had heard that some people might turn up at the event to make trouble. I am surprised it actually happened," he said.
The ceramah last night was co-organised by Malaysian Young People's Solidarity (SAMM) and Permatang Pauh PAS Youth. – March 6, 2014.
