Raja Petra rejects lunch date with Najib

The blogger turns down an invitation to lunch at the Australian Parliament House in honor of Najib.

KUALA LUMPUR:  Blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin has turned down an invitation to lunch at the Australian Parliament House in honour of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

The blogger, one of Najib’s fiercest critics in cyberspace, was invited today by Australian MP, Michael Danby.

On March 21, Raja Petra would be appearing before the Australian foreign affairs sub-committee to conduct a briefing on the human rights situation in Malaysia.

The blogger was also expected to urge Australia to send observers for the upcoming Sarawak state election and general election.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah was expected to attend the briefing as well.

During his discussion with Danby, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) chairman also touched on Anwar’s sodomy trial and the problem of rising racism and religious intolerance in Malaysia.

Freedom of speech cuts both ways

In another development, Raja Petra, in his latest blog posting, had urged opposition supporters to be more tolerant of criticism.

Condemning the condemnation of those critical of the opposition, he said that freedom of speech cuts both ways but lamented that opposition supporters do not seem to understand this.

“To them, freedom of speech merely means to criticise the government,” he said, pointing out that those who offered unfavourable views were often regarded as turncoats and Trojan horses.

“This is a very primitive and immature thinking. You cannot ask for freedom to criticise the government but do not wish anyone to criticise you,” he said.