The Penang state executive committee today decided to initiate legal action against Pulau Betong aseemblyperson Muhammad Farid Saad for accusing the state of distributing a controversial tourism booklet on Balik Pulau.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in making the announcement urged Muhammad Farid to stop pretending that he was not aware that the state had planned to sue him as his allegations “forget history, insult Malays” in Malay daily Utusan Malaysia last week were “very serious”.

NONE “We have had enough of his racism,” Lim ( left ) told a press conference in Komtar today.

He said he would file a suit against the Umno leader on behalf of the state government, after consulting with the state legal adviser.

Whether the state would be represented by the state legal adviser or another lawyer is yet to be determined.

Lim said the state might also issue a letter of demand that Muhammad Farid apologises and retracts his statement before the legal action was initiated.

“Arts-Ed, the NGO concerned, has already admitted that it had distributed the booklet, so what else does (Muhammad Farid) want to say?” he asked.

“We should focus on the economy, education, job opportunities and welfare of the people; not allow Muhammad Farid to play up this racist issue to cover other scandals...” he added.

The scandals, according to Lim, include the RM888 billion in illegal funds outflow, RM13 billion involving the Port Klang Free Trade Zone and RM30 million related to Pulau Jerejak under the previous Barisan Nasional government.

‘Merely a collection of oral history’

Yesterday, ‘My Balik Pulau’ publisher Arts-Ed (Penang Arts Education) said the booklet was merely a collection of oral history and interviews.

The NGO denied that the booklet was aimed at twisting historical facts of the area, stressing that its  contents did not represent an “authoritative” history of the Balik Pulau area.

pulau betong adun muhammad farid saad pc on my balik pulau newsletter 060211 01 Arts-Ed insisted that the booklet-cum-newsletter was a “showcase of the collective efforts” of Balik Pulau children who had interviewed senior citizens within the community.

On Sunday, Muhammad Farid ( right ) refused to apologise or retract his statement, saying he was merely pointing out historical inaccuracies in the booklet.

He also distanced himself from the Utusan Malaysia report, which quoted him as saying that the contents of the publication were an insult to the Malays.

Muhammad Faird also denied blaming anyone for the publication, but said at the press conference that he wanted to point out several factual errors in it, which seemed to imply that the Malays were not the early inhabitants of the area.

Lim also said the one-week ultimatum he gave Muhammad Farid was over. However, if the latter apologised and retracted his allegations before the state filed the legal suit against him, the matter would be considered “closed”.

“Why doesn’t he want to retract (his statement) as he had done so many times before (for example, in the state assembly sittings)?” queried Lim.