KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 — Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said today he will be pursuing legal action against controversial academic Kamarul Zaman Yusoff Kamarul, after the latter accused his charity works of “Christianisation”.
Sim said he had initially refrained from pursuing any action owing to the sanctity of the fasting month of Ramadan, but lamented that Kamarul continues to make baseless accusations against him which have fanned ethnic and religious flames.
“The allegations not only tarnished my name as a Member of Parliament, but even more dangerously, inflamed racial and religious sentiments in our society. He also without remorse challenged me to take legal action against him.
“Therefore, for the benefit of the Malaysian community and as an example to all to maintain racial harmony in this country, I have instructed my lawyer to take legal action against Kamarul Zaman Yusoff and other parties involved,” Sim said in a statement.
Yesterday, the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) senior lecturer took to his Facebook, saying that he has never disputed all the help given by Sim to his constituents or to anyone else, but that he was uncomfortable over the publicity Sim had received during the month of Ramadan.
The post was a statement he had given to Malaysiakini, which he republished on his Facebook page under the headline titled: “Warning to Steven Sim: Don’t provoke race and religious tension by over-sensationalising aid distribution to the Malay-Muslims”.
Sim had in his previous Facebook post, expressed sadness after Kamarul listed his various charitable deeds, cautioning Muslims to be wary about accepting help from “Christianevangelists”.
Last week, he presented a motorcycle to a Foodpanda delivery rider known only as Mohamad, whom he said was struggling to get by with a RM500 monthly wage.
Prior to that, he had helped a woman and her children get housing and basic necessities after they were chased out of their rented property. His actions earned him accolades from many.
Kamarul said that he too felt sad after learning about the plight of the Foodpanda worker struggling to survive in Penang and had attempted to send him aid, but claimed that he was not able to as he failed to get the contact number of the man from “those who had access to Steven Sim”.
He added that this also made him question the need to seemingly hide the identity of the man, when many others also wanted to help him.
He then accused it of being a “deliberate attempt to over-sensationalise” the actions of Sim, who is a Christian ethnic Chinese.
