Bukit Bendera MP faces cyber-bullying, fake claims online, lodges police report

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman MP is the latest victim of cyber-bullying and false claims that she is the daughter of a Communist leader.

"An individual falsely claimed on social media that the leader of the long-defunct Parti Komunis Malaya, Rashid Maidin, was my father.

"My late father, Abdul Rashid Hanafi, was a school teacher who passed away in early June," said Penang's Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid.

In her police report on Saturday (Aug 17), Syerleena provided printed online excerpts claiming she was "fighting to change Malaysia's official religion" and "planning to attack Islamic institutions" in the country.

She lodged a second report because unknown individuals damaged the signage of her constituency service centre in Bukit Bendera.

"All of us must use social media responsibly.

"Everyone using the many social media platforms has a responsibility to ensure that whatever they spread is true and not misleading.

"Let us all together reject the culture of slander and ensure that every claim made is based on truth and facts," she said.

Syerleena, 44, joined DAP in 2013 and began serving the public as a city councillor on the island.

In 2018, she became the Seri Delima assemblyman.

She was fielded under Pakatan Harapan for the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat, the main Federal seat for the island's Northeast District, and won with 79% of the votes.