Kit Siang denies urinating on flagpole outside MB's house

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has vehemently denied a posting made by the Facebook page of May 13 film Tanda Putera showing the veteran politician urinating at a flagpole outside the then Selangor menteri besar's residence prior to the 1969 riots.

"The spokepersons of the movie have said that the film was based on a lot of research, such as studying documented materials and photographs, to make sure the scenes were backed by historical facts.

"Where were the documented materials and photographs that I had urinated at the foot of the flagpole at the Selangor Menteri Besar Harun Idris' house on May 11, 12 or 13, 1969 when I was never in Kuala Lumpur?

"For that matter, where are the documented materials or photographs to show that there was such an incident and that it was not a mere figment of the imagination?" Lim said in a statement today.

Malaysiakini had on July 20 reported the film's Facebook page haduploaded a photo of Lim being carried away under the album‘Peristiwa-peristiwa yang dimuatkan di dalam filem ini' (Events depicted in this movie).

Its caption had read:"Lim Kit Siang telah kencing di bawah tiang bendera Selangor yang terpacak di rumah menteri besar Selangor ketika itu, Harun Idris, (Lim Kit Siang had urinated at the foot of the flagpole bearing the Selangor flag at the then Selangor Menteri Besar's Harun Idris' residence)".

However, the photo has since been removed butMalaysiakini managed to obtain a screen capture of the image and caption.

'Cybertroopers escalating dangerous falsehood'

Lim explained that he had denied the allegation on the same day of the posting when he was in Sabah but in his first written statement on the matter today, Lim said Umno and BN cybertroopers had continued to escalate the issue.

"In the past fortnight, the legion of Umno and BN cybertroopers have escalated their campaign of downright lies and dangerous falsehoods based on the movie's 'urination' episode to incite racial hatred and undermine national unity...

"Despite my firm denial of these wild and reckless allegations in my speech in Parliament on March 22, 2012, declaring that I was never in Kuala Lumpur on May 11, 12 and 13, 1969, these downright lies and dangerous falsehoods have continued to make their rounds in leaps and bounds in cyberspace," he said.

Lim also criticised Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for not reining in the party cybertroopers.

He added that the particular photo that was initially posted on Tanda Putera's Facebook page was not taken in 1969 but was from a Sabah incident in 1984.

"If the movie Tanda Putraja gives a biased and unbalanced account of the May 13 tragedy in 1969, it will be the cause of grave national misunderstanding and discord on the occasion of the 55th National Day and 49th Malaysia Day - making a total mockery of the 1Malaysia objective to build a united Malaysian nation," he said.

However, those in the film industry who had watched the special screening of the film on July 18 had said that no such scene was included in the preview cut.

The RM4.8 million film by Shuhaimi Baba was scheduled to hit the silver screen on Sept 13 but has since been delayed by National Film Development Board (Finas) citing the need for more time for "promotional activities".