Penang chief minister says the standard of English in Home Minister’s letter to the FBI is “embarrassing” to all Malaysians.
FMT
PETALING JAYA: The topic on most people’s lips these days is the questionable letter sent by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), requesting the release of gambling suspect Paul Phua.
However while jumping on the bandwagon and criticising Zahid for the negative implications the letter was having on the Malaysian government, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng took it a step further and zoomed in on the home minister’s “atrocious” English that he said even caused him to doubt the authenticity of the letter.
Speaking to reporters today, Lim said, “The letter’s language is not conforming to international standards,” and added, “I mean what I want to say is that this shouldn’t be the standard of correspondence coming from the Ministry of Home Affairs”.
“Standards expected by the government of Malaysia to the US government should be better.”
While questioning the “veracity” of the letter, Lim was more concerned about the bad command of English and asked, “… can’t he get a better person to draft letters?
“It is a bit embarrassing the standards that is demonstrated. The language used is atrocious, especially for the government of Malaysia.”
Commenting that the even the date appearing in the letter was written in Malay, not English, Lim said he doubted if the correspondence was genuinely from Zahid’s ministry.
“He (Zahid) must come out and clarify if the letter is genuine and if it is, he should explain himself.”
On a more serious note, Lim asked why the Malaysian government was so intent on securing the release of a suspected gambling kingpin.
He asked, “If the letter is genuine, a lot of people want to know is this the kind of people our Home Minister is associated with?
“Is this the company our ministers keep? With gamblers and kingpins? And he is supposed to be one of the candidates for Deputy Prime Minister?
“This affects the image of the Malaysian government. He should explain. I hope there will be no cover up.”
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid had reportedly sent a letter requesting the FBI to withdraw the case of Phua, who is currently facing charges in Las Vegas for illegal gambling.
Ahmad Zahid reportedly addressed the letter to FBI deputy director Mark F Giuliano, claiming that Phua, who was arrested in Las Vegas in July, was neither a member nor associated with the 14K triad in Malaysia.
Phua’s counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the letter from the home ministry was released in answer to a request from Phua’s legal firm, Chesnoff & Schonfeld, to share any information directly with the American authorities.
* FULL TEXT OF AHMAD ZAHID’S LETTER
PETALING JAYA: The topic on most people’s lips these days is the questionable letter sent by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), requesting the release of gambling suspect Paul Phua.
However while jumping on the bandwagon and criticising Zahid for the negative implications the letter was having on the Malaysian government, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng took it a step further and zoomed in on the home minister’s “atrocious” English that he said even caused him to doubt the authenticity of the letter.
Speaking to reporters today, Lim said, “The letter’s language is not conforming to international standards,” and added, “I mean what I want to say is that this shouldn’t be the standard of correspondence coming from the Ministry of Home Affairs”.
“Standards expected by the government of Malaysia to the US government should be better.”
While questioning the “veracity” of the letter, Lim was more concerned about the bad command of English and asked, “… can’t he get a better person to draft letters?
“It is a bit embarrassing the standards that is demonstrated. The language used is atrocious, especially for the government of Malaysia.”
Commenting that the even the date appearing in the letter was written in Malay, not English, Lim said he doubted if the correspondence was genuinely from Zahid’s ministry.
“He (Zahid) must come out and clarify if the letter is genuine and if it is, he should explain himself.”
On a more serious note, Lim asked why the Malaysian government was so intent on securing the release of a suspected gambling kingpin.
He asked, “If the letter is genuine, a lot of people want to know is this the kind of people our Home Minister is associated with?
“Is this the company our ministers keep? With gamblers and kingpins? And he is supposed to be one of the candidates for Deputy Prime Minister?
“This affects the image of the Malaysian government. He should explain. I hope there will be no cover up.”
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid had reportedly sent a letter requesting the FBI to withdraw the case of Phua, who is currently facing charges in Las Vegas for illegal gambling.
Ahmad Zahid reportedly addressed the letter to FBI deputy director Mark F Giuliano, claiming that Phua, who was arrested in Las Vegas in July, was neither a member nor associated with the 14K triad in Malaysia.
Phua’s counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the letter from the home ministry was released in answer to a request from Phua’s legal firm, Chesnoff & Schonfeld, to share any information directly with the American authorities.
* FULL TEXT OF AHMAD ZAHID’S LETTER
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