BN's rose sees red at Pakatan's thorns

Penang opposition leader Jahara Hamid has accused Pakatan Rakyat backbenchers of ridiculing her based on gender.

"They ridicule me because I am a woman. They want to shut my mouth. It has become impossible for me to speak," she said at a press conference after the 10 Umno assemblypersons walked out of the assembly today, following the attack on Jahara by several DAP reps.

"They did not allow me to speak at all, they only want people to praise them. The rakyat can make their own judgement about this. I did give the facts and people can see if it is fair, racist or not.

"You reporters were there, were they being fair to me?" she asked.

Jahara also said during BN’s rule, the opposition like Sungai Puyu assemblyperson Phee Boon Poh, the sole DAP rep from 2004-2008, was allowed to speak freely in the state assembly.

Island's sudden name change

During her speech in the state assembly, Jahara questioned why Pulau Jerejak, which used to be a detention centre for leprosy patients, had its name changed to Mazu Island suddenly.

Mazu is the name of the Sea Goddess, a Chinese female version of the Greek God Poseidon.

She showed photos of the temple and the deity Mazu, which she obtained from Facebook and a website.

One of the photos showed Batu Maung assemblyperson Abdul Malik Kassim handing aid to the temple management sometime around the May 5 general election.

Another was a website banner, which Jahara showed reporters at a press conference later, which depicted Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's luncheon invite to the public for an "Ubah" fundraising event at the Mazu temple in January this year.

Malik, who is the state executive councillor for Islamic Affairs, had defended his action, saying: "That is because I am a YB for all races and religion."

Jahara said developer UDA Development, which owns 60 percent of the Jerejak Resort, had denied knowledge about the matter.

Thirty percent of the resort is owned by Penang Development Corporation, the state development arm.

When asked the purpose of her raising the issue, Jahara replied "They (Pakatan Rakyat) accuse us of everything (macam-macam), saying (we favour) cronies.”

"They say it in and out of the Dewan. If anyone can get access (to change the Island's name), who do you think he is? You can make your own conclusions," she added.

Pulau Betong assemblyperson Muhamad Farid Saad said that the erection of the deity or the temple is not the issue.

"But who changed the name of the island from Jerejak to Mazu? Has it (the name) been gazetted? Has the temple obtained permission to built the deity? If it is illegal, it may be demolished and that will create an issue," he said.

Baseless accusations

When met later, Pantai Jerejak assemblyperson Rashid Hasnon denied knowledge about the matter, and slammed Jahara for making "direct accusations against the state which are baseless."

"She is not sharp in her arguments," quipped the deputy chief minister I.

State exco for health Dr Afif Bahardin took Jahara to task for starting a debate, which lacked facts and figures.

"If you don't have facts, don't start a debate. Maybe they (BN) do not know how to debate as this is only their second term as opposition," said the Seberang Jaya assemblyperson.

Afif also denied that speaker Law Choo Kiang had prevented Jahara from speaking, saying the walk-out was not justified.

He added that Pakatan reps staged a walk-out in Parliament as speaker Pandikar Amin refused to allow their resolutions to be debated.

"But here, they are not rejected. It just shows their laziness and that they are not prepared for their debate, they don't give quality rebuttals," he added.

Asked why Pakatan assemblypersons lashed out at Jahara several times, asking her to withdraw her remarks, Afif said: "She did not give facts, just presumptions".

"If we did not allow her to speak, then how come she retracted her baseless allegations twice?" he asked.

Earlier, Jahara was forced to withdraw two remarks when she alleged that developers had to get the green light from MPs or assemblypersons before proceeding with their projects.

She also retracted a comment alleging that the state practiced selective demolition of shops based on race.