Noh apologises for remarks at BN convention

(Bernama) – Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar has apologised over his remarks at the Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) convention on Wednesday, saying he did not mean to hurt the feelings of any community.

Noh clarified that he merely quoted from the speeches of fourth MCA president Tun Tan Siew Sin and fifth MIC president Tun V T Sambanthan to stress the importance of cooperation and the spirit of friendship among members and leaders of BN component parties.

“I did not mean to hurt the feelings of any community. To me, the speeches are an important historical document to ensure the country remains peaceful and people of various races live in harmony, in line with the 1Malaysia concept,” he said in a statement on Thursday, April 8.

Noh, who is agriculture and agro-based industry minister, said he would like to apologise if the quotes were no longer suitable to be read in current times and could hurt the feelings of others.

On April 7, Noh, in his keynote address, read out quotes from speeches of the two BN component party leaders in the 60s, which praised Umno for giving citizenship to the non-Malays.

This prompted 15 Kapar MCA delegates to walk out of the convention, claiming that Noh’s speech was an insult to the Chinese and Indians.

The issue was also raised in the Dewan Rakyat during the debate for the Supplementary Supply Bill (2009) 2010 yesterday, with Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP) demanding that the government apologise over the issue.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, in his winding-up speech, rejected the demand and asked Lim to settle the matter with the Tanjung Karang member of parliament himself.

Mohamed Nazri however agreed with Lim that all communities in the country contributed to the country’s success.

The sitting resumes Monday.