Apology sought over utterance (Star, 31.1.2008)
PENANG: A controversy is brewing over the use of the words “samy” and “sami” at a political cera-mah here last Saturday.
Sri Muniswaran Temple secretary S. Ragindra wants DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to apologise to the Indian community for uttering the words sami tipu.
Ragindran said “sami” in Tamil meant deity or a holy man and Lim’s use of the phrase sami tipu at a DAP ceramah in the Penang Chinese Town Hall was offensive to the Hindus.
“This is a very sensitive issue. Even if Lim had meant Samy, the name is a very common one as many Indians are named Samy and it is an insult to call them liars before a crowd of 2,000 people,” he said yesterday.
Ragindran said several of his friends who attended the ceramah on the Hindraf issue had complained to him about the matter.
On Tuesday, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lee Hack Teik called on Lim to apologise to the Indian community for making the offensive re-mark.
When contacted, Lim claimed that everyone in the hall knew who he was referring to.
“Everyone knew whom I was referring to, so why are they trying to put it out of context?” he questioned.
State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow told a press conference yesterday that Lim was referring to Works Minister Samy Vellu and not the sami (priests) in temples.
“If the 2,000 Indians who attended the forum had found his words offensive, they would not have responded with loud cheers of support but would have instead booed Guan Eng,'’ Chow said.
He instead called Lee “li tua pao” (Hokkien for big cannon) for what he termed as a cheap publicity stunt to champion the In-dians.
