The protests over a flag blunder in Penang may have ended, but the war of words between Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh and Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) director Zaid Malek shows no sign of stopping.
Frustrated with the NGO’s counter-rally, Akmal took to social media last night to criticise Zaid and his group for defending a hardware store owner who was filmed hanging the Jalur Gemilang upside down.
“They hail the people who hung Malaysia’s flag upside down as a hero (but) regard those defending the flag as acting like Zionists. This is their behaviour. So, it’s true that ‘Buang’ exists,” said the Merlimau assemblyperson in a Facebook post.
He also shared a photo of Zaid and his group during the rally, where one participant held a placard reading “Jangan bersikap Zionis” (Do not act like the Zionists). Akmal appeared to be referencing Buang, the traitorous character from P. Ramlee’s film Sarjan Hassan, portrayed by Salleh Kamil as a collaborator with Japanese forces during the Second World War.
In a swift response, Zaid called Akmal a coward, claiming the Umno Youth leader only criticised him online and avoided confronting him directly.
“After running away instead of facing me in person, Akmal only dares to talk badly about me when he hides behind social media. Clearly, he is only a champion on social media but a coward in reality,” Zaid said in a statement.
He accused Akmal of using the crowd of protesters to intimidate him, the store owner, and others who resisted “oppression and gangster acts” by politicians like him. Zaid said Akmal left instead of calming tensions when protesters began berating LFL members.
“‘Rupa harimau hati tikus’ (looks like a tiger but heart of a mouse) is the best way to describe such keyboard warriors,” he added.
The dispute follows yesterday’s rally in Kepala Batas, Penang, where over 100 protesters, including Umno and Bersatu youth members, gathered to “educate” the hardware store owner on how to display the Jalur Gemilang correctly. At the same time, LFL brought its own group to shield the store owner, Pang Chin Tian, from harassment.