Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Web closes around ‘Anwar’
Sharanjit Singh
MALACCA, Oct 5, 2004
The authorities are looking for "Anwar", author of an offensive remark on Islam Hadhari posted on a local weblog.
Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the Communication and Multimedia Commission was working closely with the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic systems (Mimos) to identify the person and bring him to book.
He said if the person was found to have written something seditious, he would be charged accordingly.
"We can find this ‘Anwar’ and we will charge him if he has broken the law," Keng Yaik said.
Finding "Anwar", he said, would be similar to searching for the person responsible for sending threatening SMS messages to local artiste Siti Nurhaliza.
Keng Yaik, who earlier delivered a keynote address at the International Conference on ICT businesses in Malacca 2004, said he had received a report on the issue.
He said Jeff Ooi, who hosted the blog on which the derogatory comments appeared, had immediately barred "Anwar" when he realised the person had abused it.
"If he (Ooi) had kept the person’s comments on the blog, he would have been a partner in crime," said Keng Yaik.
Ooi has come under fire for allowing the derogatory statement to be posted on his blog.
"Anwar", a participant, posted a comment on Ooi’s website stating it was unacceptable to compare Islam Hadhari and money politics to "water and oil" because water and oil are suci (untainted).
Instead, he said, Islam Hadhari and money politics were like "shit and urine".
Umno Youth has demanded an apology from Ooi and the movement has also called on Malaysians to write to Ooi in protest.
Federal Territority mufti Prof Datuk Dr Mohammed Yusoff Hussain has also condemned the offensive statement, saying it was an insult to Islam.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/20041006074600/Article/indexb_html
