Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid criticises Sepang Umno chief Noorazli Said for using internet jokes to defend offensive public remarks.
GEORGE TOWN: The availability of offensive jokes online does not give political leaders a free pass to repeat them publicly, Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid said today.
Her remarks followed criticism of Sepang Umno chief Datuk Noorazli Said over a suggestive joke he made during the Umno General Assembly.
Noorazli has said he did not intend to insult anyone or any religion and was prepared to apologise if his remarks caused misunderstanding or offence.
He also said the joke was based on a widely circulated 55-second animated video found on YouTube.
However, Syerleena said the fact that something could be found online was not a defence for repeating it from a public political platform.
She described the internet as an “endless repository of racism, misogyny, religious insults and stupidity”.
“His defence that the joke is widely circulated online makes matters worse, not better,” she said in a statement today.
Syerleena said political leaders were expected to exercise sufficient judgement and discernment rather than repeat everything they encountered online.
“We have seen this routine too often in Malaysian politics: an offensive remark is made, there is public anger, context is offered, intentions are explained, and eventually comes the apology. Then we reset,” she said.
She said the “cakap dulu, minta maaf kemudian” (speak first, apologise later) culture needed to stop.
Syerleena said Noorazli’s remarks could not simply be dismissed as a slip of the tongue, as there had been opportunities to exercise judgement before delivering the joke.
The controversy has also drawn criticism from within Umno, with Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh saying Noorazli had crossed the line and should apologise.
Akmal also asked supporters to consider how Muslims would react if an imam had been used in a similar joke.
The Catholic Lawyers’ Society has also condemned Noorazli’s remarks and said it would lodge a police report over the matter.
Syerleena said she was offended by what she described as the “casual disrespect towards another community’s faith”, stressing that Christian clergy, scripture and religious traditions deserved dignity.
“Respect should shape our conduct before offence is caused, not suddenly appear afterwards in an apology,” she said.
She also raised concerns over the objectification of women in the joke and said dismissing objections as oversensitivity would miss the point.
Syerleena said an apology from Noorazli was necessary, but should not become another reset button that allowed people to forget the conduct that prompted it.
“Political leadership demands judgment before the controversy, not contrition after it,” she said.
