Even clowns give better excuses than Syed Hamid

Sin Chew Daily senior reporter Tan Hoon Cheng was released after 16 hours in detention and she is now back at home in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. [Malaysiakini, 13/9/08]

The recent ISA blitz on September 12 saw three individuals: Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Teresa Kok and Tan Hoon Cheng (images in order below) being detained by the authorities on the grounds of "national security". However, Tan was the first among the three to be released after 16 hours in police custody. Apparently, she was held in Ipoh.

The Sin Chew Daily journalist was the person responsible for reporting Ahmad Ismail's racist comments; resulting a nationwide concern for racism and the fragility of national unity.

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The arrest of the journalist was duly justified by Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (image) whose jurisdiction covers the Internal Security Act - a preventive law that allows the government to detain any individual on grounds of national security. He told reporters:

"She (Tan Hoon Cheng) made the first report so we (the authorities) had to get to the bottom of it and we received information that her life was under threat." [Malaysiakini, 13/9/08]

At this point, the Home Affairs Minister and the entire Royal Malaysian Police sounded really foolish. Here are three points to consider from Syed Hamid's latest press statements:

1. Tan Hoon Cheng was detained for 16 hours by the police.
2. If there was really a death threat, how did it disappear after 16 hours?
   
3. If the police was really sincere in protecting Tan, why not consider assigning officers to her home and avoid the logistical fuss of taking her all the way to Ipoh for 16 hours?
   

If Syed Hamid wanted to make an excuse or even lie about having one, he should first consider sparing himself from insulting his own intelligence. Malaysians are not dumb to fall for cheap tricks; not this time.

On the other hand, the minister also blamed Tan for the national furore over Ahmad's Ismail's racial slur; apparently due to her over reaction on the issue. He also claimed that the arrest of the journalist has been made into another racial issue.

"At present everything we are doing, we are looking at it from an ethnic angle. Khir Toyo is a Malay, Ahmad Ismail is a Malay, we arrest Chinese...We should start to think as Malaysians. Even me, if I'm considered a threat, the police are free to take action against me." [The Malaysian Insider, 13/9/08]

Did Ahmad Ismail first thought himself as a Malaysian before making such disrespectful statements towards the Malaysian Chinese community. Had Syed Hamid and his men acted as Malaysians when they should arrest the real culprit to this racial unrest and not the person who reported it?

Sometimes, clowns do make better excuses.