The recent Chap Goh Meh quarter-marathon in Jawi on mainland Penang organised by PKR started off on the wrong foot, with the BN questioning its timing for clashing with a tradition dubbed as the ‘Chinese Valentine's Day'.

But worse still, during the run last Sunday, all those present were shocked to hear the emcee shouted "1Malaysia", the slogan coined by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to promote his concept of unity among the various races in the country.

NONE Pakatan Rakyat has avoided using the slogan as the opposition coalition does not want to be seen endorsing BN's version of superficial unity.

"How can a state event overseen by Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman ( right ) be organised in such a careless manner?" asked a source who told Malaysiakini about the incident.

"The organisers of the event headed by Mansor's personal aide Izad Buqhary Mohd Kamri did not even bother to hold a rehearsal to prepare for the event," the source claimed.

The source said the incident appeared to have been planned to "sabotage" PKR and Mansor, who is the party's Penang chief, and this has brought "embarrassment and shame" to the latter.

'Emcee is our man'

Izad, when contacted yesterday, denied that the emcee uttered the "1Malaysia" slogan, arguing that "it did not happen like that as he is our man".

He declined to comment further, only adding that his team was awaiting Mansor's return from Shah Alam to deal with the matter. A statement would be issued then.

Asked about the lack of planning, including not having held a rehearsal before the event, Izad said, "I admit, that is true".

It is learnt that an internal investigation may be carried out after a post-mortem on the event when Mansor is back from Selangor.

According to a report in Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau yesterday, the incident was "a trap" set by pro-BN supporters to embarrass Penang PKR.

The daily said the emcee shouted "Salam 1Malaysia" and played the 1Malaysia song, drawing ironic laughter from the run participants and others who were present.

Nanyang added that Mansor, who was in Shah Alam for the Pakatan convention, was visibly angered by the incident and had ordered an internal probe.

Izad was also quoted by Nanyang as saying that PKR would not rule out that it had unwittingly fallen into a "trap" set by pro-BN supporters.

Meanwhile, when contacted by Malaysiakini , Mansor said that PKR will not be carrying out an internal investigation on the botched programme as it did not involve its party members.

   

Mansor denied that it was the emcee of the programme who shouted the slogan, saying that the group which led the “ Senamrobik ” programme were the ones who had played the 1Malaysia theme song.

He admitted that he had experienced some anger at the time when he witnessed the scenario, saying “I told the organisers that I was angry about it”.

“There will be no internal probe. I have reminded them to be careful when organising events like this,” said Mansor when asked if he would be investigating on the matter.

He attributed the incident to a lack of preparation on the part of the organisers.