Political cartoonist Zunar stunned his fans in Penang last night when he arrived at the Caring Society on Jalan Scotland in a shocking pink shirt.

“I wear pink as a sign of protest because I was threatened and forced to abort my exhibition, ‘Ketawa Pink Pink’, which was supposed to be displayed on Beach Street yesterday,” Zunar said at the forum ‘Defending Freedom of Expression’, which was organised by Aliran.

However, he said, in future, he would not have to abort his exhibition abruptly due to the fear of his opponents as he is now armed with a group of “bodyguards”.

The bodyguards, from Parti Amanah Negara’s voluntary corps (Arif), spotted in orange uniform ouside the forum venue, have vowed to protect Zunar whenever he exhibits his work in Penang.

“They told me that whenever I am in Penang, they will come and protect me from those who want to disrupt my activities,” said Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque.

Last year, Zunar’s exhibition, lampooning Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor, were disrupted by state Umno members who blamed him for insulting the prime minister.

He was arrested for sedition the next day, which adds up to nine other charges he faces under the Sedition Act.

Last Saturday, Zunar was again forced to abort his exhibition, blaming this on alleged threats from his opponents.

Met at the forum last night, Arif state secretary Mohd Faruk Abdul Rahman said Zunar is on the “right side” for raising issues of the people.

“That is why we decided to protect him. Anyway, he is not doing anything wrong with his cartoons, and it is his right to freedom of expression to hold his exhibitions,” Mohd Faruk said.

In his speech, Zunar said he cancelled his event because “I do not want to engage with them (state Umno Youth). There is no point in doing so.

“I do not want to waste my time fighting with stupid people. If Najib, or Rosmah, wants to fight with me, I do not mind.”

The biggest challenge for Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan shared the history of online news portal at the forum, showing a power-point presentation on the raids carried out by the police on the news portal’s office.

Despite several raids, harassment, detention of the portal’s journalists and law suits against its editors, the biggest challenge for the website was to find sustainable financing.

Gan (photo) said making a political impact was easy for the news portal or for any other online media.

“Just being on the ground and reporting truthfully what happens. That is already good enough for a lot of people, and that can have a lot of impact. That is the easy part.

“The hard part is financial sustainability. Many online portals are unable to survive more because of this attack by the government,” Gan added.

Aliran honorary secretary Mustafa K Anuar said control over the film industry and banning of books can bring negative impact on education.

“Stringent control over films has wide repercussions on freedom of expression and freedom of information.

“But equally important is that in education, I would think in universities, tight control of films, documentaries and banning of books will have a grave impact, especially on materials that are educational in nature to students and staff,” Mustafa said.

Other than the speakers, advocate and solicitor Simon Murali also shared his view of the Sedition Act, saying it was “invalid” as this law did not go through the parliamentary process.