Tony Pua: Racist tweet not from me, a fake

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DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has decried images of a racist tweet, purportedly from him, that has been circulating on WhatsApp yesterday.

"The image of a fake racist tweet purportedly made by me that is circulating widely via WhatsApp is the amateur work of thugs," Pua said in a statement today.

The image, he added, was especially circulated among the Indian community.

The tweet in the image reads: "The Indians really behave like thugs and act like pariah! I will not be threathen by them!"

Pua said he has never used the word ‘pariah’ to describe anyone and he does not believe Indians act like thugs.

He also pointed out that he would never misspell 'threaten' and that it was a glaring grammatical mistake, for it should be 'threatened'.

Another obvious sign that the images are doctored is the removal of the time stamps from the tweets, he said.

The real thugs are those who faked the tweets and then circulated them, regardless of race, Pua added.

"There are those among us - Chinese, Indians, Malays - who do behave like thugs.

"The person or persons who made (the images of the fake tweets) is certainly a shameless ‘thug’, regardless of race," he said.

'Clearly made to inflame racial sentiments'

The images of the tweets were clearly made to 'inflame racial sentiments' against him, Pua said.

"I have no idea who designed and spread the above image to defame me.

"However, it will not in any way stop me from carrying out my duties to serve my constituents and all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or creed, without fear or favour," he declared.

Pua then mused that perhaps this was a response to the confrontation at Sungai Way last Thursday.

Pua, along with Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San and Selangor executive councillor V Ganabathirao, visited a new Deepavali bazaar site.

The visit turned rowdy when angry traders confronted them about the relocation of the bazaar site.

Two of them, both PKR grassroots leaders, then lodged a police report against Pua for allegedly defaming them by calling them 'gangsters' in a Facebook post.



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