'I was provoked' says PMCCM chairman

Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce (PMCCM) president Rizal Faris Mohideen has claimed that he was provoked into a fit of rage by Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (MCCM) secretary-general Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar.

This led to the argument between the two during a chance meeting at the Bayan Lepas International Airport on Feb 10 said Rizal, and in the heat of the moment he may have uttered harsh words at Abdul Rahim.

"But I deny that I ever attempted to assault him. I deny it, I deny, I deny it," said Rizal when asked about the attempted assault and intimidation complaint lodged against him by Abdul Rahim on Feb 12 at the Selayang police station in Gombak, Selangor.

According to a report by the Sun published today, the incident occurred following a meeting between Abdul Rahim and three other MCCM officials in Penang.

At the airport, Abdul Rahim was reported as saying he and several other MCCM officials were confronted by Rizal ( right ).

Abdul Rahim said he was allegedly abused by Rizal with words such as babi (pig), sial (damned), binatang (animal), barua (scoundrel) and kurang ajar (rude).

Rizal allegedly also warned him with the words: "I am after you now, you be careful."

"At that point, he raised his hand to hit me and was blocked by (Malacca Malay Chamber of Commerce chairman) Datuk Ramly (Mohamad)," Rahim said in his police report.

Rizal, Rahim claimed further, went on to threaten to ‘shoot' another MCCM official who was with them and to throw a shoe at his face at a forthcoming meeting.

Actions ‘misconstrued'

When contacted, Rizal said he had never intended or attempted to hit any of the members of Rahim's group.

"Penang Malays are very expressive. He misconstrued my actions. Perhaps he's not used to how we Malay Penangites gesture with our hands and arms when we get worked up, and he thought I was going to hit him.

Asked about the abusive words that he allegedly used, Rizal said he could have uttered them in the heat of their argument.

"I said a lot of things that day, I can't remember what they were exactly. In the fit of anger I was in, I cannot recall what I said," said Rizal.

"But I definitely deny that I tried to hit him," he asserted.

Rizal has been involved in a war of words with the DAP-led Penang government over what he claims is the state's discrimination against and marginalisation of the Malay community. A demonstration involving around 300 Malay-Muslim groups and individuals was held on Feb 5, in which an effigy of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was burned.

In an effort at damage control, Abdul Rahim and three other MCCM officials - without PMCC - met Lim and exchanged views on the tensions between the ‘Sedaq' coalition of groups that had demonstrated and the state government.

According to Rizal, Rahim had not consulted him or PMCCM before the meeting with Lim. Many in ‘Sedaq', in particular, and the Malay community in Penang, in general, did not know that MCCM had bypassed its Penang branch.

Because of this, said Rizal, many people have made calls to his mobile phone and house telephone and insulted him over the ‘treachery' they thought he had committed against them.

"They called my house, they've stopped in front of my residence and shouted their insults. My family is afraid, I have been insulted and I have been threatened.

"He has caused a lot of security issues for me, for my PMCCM staff and my NGO partners," he added.

Rizal said he has already met with the MCCM executive council, which has decided to call for a meeting on Mar 12 with all state Malay chambers of commerce presidents, to whom PMCC will explain the issues.

He said further that he would cooperate fully with the police over the matter.