'Faux PAS' Razman apologises to Yeoh, regrets Mkini's reporting

Summary

• Perak PAS leader Razman Zakaria concedes that he falsely claimed that Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh is the daughter of the YTL founder.

• This is after she informs him that not all Yeohs are related.

• This is the second erroneous claim the PAS leader has made against his DAP counterparts.

Perak PAS commissioner Razman Zakaria has developed a pattern of making false accusations against DAP leaders, only to later retract them.

In his latest faux pas, the vocal politician conceded making an erroneous statement about Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

“I admit I have made a mistake with regard to the information that I linked to YB Hannah Yeoh,” he said in a social media post.

However, Razman also appeared to be frustrated, noting that although he delivered a lengthy speech during a ceramah, the media only extracted a single minute of it to create a news item.

The Gunung Semanggol assemblyperson was referring to his claim that Hannah is the daughter of YTL Corporation Berhad’s founder Yeoh Tiong Lay.

He had also alleged that the Umno-led state government in the past sold a Perak cement company to YTL Group.

“(Hannah) Yeoh is a child of a rich person, she is the daughter of YTL… Umno was ‘smart’ back then and sold (cement company) Perak-Hanjoong Simen to YTL for profit,” he said in the clip, which the minister shared.

In her response, Hannah, who is a DAP lawmaker, stated that PAS should know that not all Yeohs are related.

Not the first time

Last December, Razman was forced to apologise to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming after falsely linking the latter to a procession in Teluk Intan where delegates from China waved the Chinese national flag.

“I admit that the allegations are false and completely unfounded.

“I apologise without reservations to Nga for any suffering and humiliation caused by the allegation,” he said in his letter of apology.

Razman’s remarks concerning Hannah come in the wake of a PAS lawmaker Siti Mastura Muhammad depositing RM830,000 into the account of a law firm representing DAP leaders after she lost a defamation lawsuit.

Mastura had alleged that DAP national chairperson Lim Guan Eng and his father, Kit Siang, were connected to Communist Party of Malaysia leader Chin Peng and that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok was related to the Lims.

Disappointed with Malaysiakini

In a subsequent media statement, Razman apologised and reiterated his disappointment with the media, this time naming Malaysiakini, for not highlighting the rest of his 30-minute speech. 

“I acknowledge the factual error regarding the connection between Hannah and YTL. I admit that Hannah has no connection with the corporate figure or the YTL company.

“This was an unintentional error in the quoting process.

“With this statement, I express regret and offer my apologies to Hannah, YTL, and any parties affected or offended by the confusion caused by the factual error.

“I hope this issue is understood through the explanation I have provided,” he added.

As for Malaysiakini, Razman said he regretted that the news portal’s report appeared to focus solely on highlighting the mistake without addressing other aspects of the speech or the successes of the three-day Gerak Muafakat Umah programme attended by some 5,000 people.

“The excerpt of my speech quoted by Malaysiakini was a statement that was not the main point, especially as the event featured three prominent figures.

“I urge reporting that sharpens the intellect of the people rather than inciting animosity among them,” he added.

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