Nanyang Siang Pau apologises for ‘monkey’ cartoon

PETALING JAYA: Nanyang Siang Pau has apologised for a cartoon it published that depicted PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia as monkeys.  

“Nanyang Siang Pau wishes to apologise to Pandikar Amin Mulia and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for all the troubles that arose from the inappropriate cartoon,” the Chinese newspaper said in an apology notice.  

It also removed the cartoon from its online portal, eNanyang.  

Titled “Monkey Act,” the cartoon featured two monkeys sitting on a tree named “Act 355” while a group of monkeys fight under it.  

On the tree, one monkey dons a songkok and is labelled “speaker” while the other has a turban and is labelled “Hadi Awang".  

Incensed, Selangor PAS Youth called for a demonstration against the daily, while Kelantan PAS Youth called for a protest that would have included burning and throwing copies of the newspaper into the sea.  

Both protests were scheduled for tomorrow, April 11.  

The cartoon was published in the newspaper two days after Abdul Hadi tabled his Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act or RUU355 in Parliament on April 6.

In an unprecedented move, all Government businesses were cleared to give prominence to the Bill, only for the Dewan Rakyat Speaker to defer it to the next Parliamentary meeting in July.  

Opposition MPs have criticised Pandikar Amin for deferring the Bill without allowing it to be debated.