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公正党议员挺浮罗山背社区报, 促助改善内容缺陷非愚昧焚烧
MP lashes out at 'My Balik Pulau' detractors
Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff has described key detractors of tourism booklet 'My Balik Pulau' as practising 'bebalism' - a term he used to describe those who lacked anticipation and are reactive.
Yusmadi (left), a lawyer by profession, said examples of bebalism include burning of books and calling for action to be taken against the publisher of the booklet, Arts-Ed.
“These include politicians like Pulau Betong (Umno) rep Muhammad Farid Saad and the NGOs who recently set the booklet on fire, urging that it be banned and action taken against the publisher,” he said at a press conference at his service centre in Balik Pulau today.
“This kind of reaction is shameful and does not benefit anyone when the whole world regards arts and heritage as a very important thins... bebalism is not only for losers (merugikan) but is neither original nor creative,” he added.
The first-term MP questioned Muhammad Farid on what he has done for Balik Pulau and accused him of not appreciating a fine work of history and heritage that the community could be proud of, in the area.
Yusmadi was responding to the recent brouhaha over the 12-page booklet, which contained segments of oral history by residents of Balik Pulau about their lives.
The issue created havoc when Muhammad Farid (right) highlighted that the booklet contained factual errors, and accused it of attempting to wipe out the early existence of the Malays in the area, thus insulting the community.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has labelled the Umno leader a racist, asking him to apologise and retract his statement which tried to imply that the state government was behind the publication.
Lim is planning to sue Muhammad Farid for failing to apologise and withdraw his comments, which have gained much coverage in the Malay language dailies controlled by Umno.
Muhammad Farid refused to concede, saying instead that he was merely pointing out errors and did not blame any party for the document.
Lim denied that the state funded the booklet, saying it was a project conceived before 2008, although published last year and distributed in Balik Pulau only in January.
Recently, a group of Malay NGOs who called themselves Gabungan Bela Hak Insan had condemned the booklet, urging the state to ban it and take action against its publisher .
Gabungan had also set fire to copies of the publication, warning that if no action is taken by the state, they would seek the attention of the federal government, including the Home Ministry, which oversees licences for publication materials.
Not intended to be a definitive history
Arts-Ed has clarified that the newsletter is not intended in any way to be a definitive history, or be used as a history book.
It only presents oral histories as recounted by residents of Balik Pulau, as well as including information on the area from published sources, which were available to the researchers at the time of writing, the NGO said.
“Information not available at that time to the researchers was not included,” it said.
“The oral histories represent stories from persons who were interested and willing to share their stories... care was taken to engage with all community and ethnic groups,” it added.
Meanwhile, Arts-Ed has found an ardent supporter in Yusmadi, who has offered to help the NGO remedy the situation.
He admitted that there were limitations in the booklet, but added that it can be rectified with further research and resources.
He claimed to have met well-known arts educator Janet Pillay to offer his help and service centre as a base for the NGO to carry out more activities in Balik Pulau.
“I feel it is unfortunate that the booklet has caught the attention of the public for the wrong reasons but it should be judged with fairness,” he said.
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