Engineer Ismail Harun did not expect that a political poster he had altered as a prank to a friend would spread all over the Internet and cause trouble for the Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders who was featured on it.
The 29-year-old admitted to doctoring a poster of Permatang Pauh BN chief Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said to show it offering free bras as part of the GE14 election pledge and has since said sorry to the latter, New Straits Times (NST) reported today.
Ismail Harun (left) apologised to Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said.
“Once I realised it had created all sorts of trouble and tarnished the image of Permatang Pauh BN, I decided to contact him and apologise,” Ismail was quoted saying.
Zaidi reportedly accepted Ismail’s apology and believed the engineer was sincere in seeking forgiveness but said the latter should not do the same error again.
“However, such matters should not (be) made into jokes, more so when it involves the dignity of an individual and a political party.
“Maybe there are some who think that if such acts are let go, it would only encourage others to do the same, as they would only need to say sorry and then get off free.
“I guess it depends. But I will not be so generous the next time around,” he was quoted saying.
The original poster showed Mohd Zaidi’s face and name to promote an event of him offering 5,000 free eyeglasses, while the edited version with the face of Ismail’s friend superimposed on Mohd Zaidi’s face had touted 5,000 free bras and had carried a different name.
Ismail said the edited poster was shared in a Whatsapp group for his workplace, adding that he never thought it would go viral on social media and felt “guilty” when his prank attracted Zaidi’s attention.
Zaidi had on Wednesday told Malay Mail that he would be lodging a police report the next day over the photoshopped poster that was being shared on Facebook and Whatsapp, adding that he did not know the person featured in the edited poster as there was no such person in Umno.
NST said a police report had been lodged over the poster. – MMO