Johor Royal Court Council slams Singapore news portal
JOHOR BARU The Johor Royal Court Council has slammed an article from a Singapore news portal for falsely attributing remarks to Johor royalty.
Its president, Mr Abdul Rahim Ramli, said the portal had misused and manipulated Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim in the ongoing spat between Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and tycoon Robert Kuok.
Mr Abdul Rahim said he would like to emphasise that all statements made by His Majesty the Sultan of Johor and Tunku Mahkota Johor are only released through the Royal Johor (Royal Press Office) official page, Johor Southern Tigers official page and The Star newspaper.
"If there are any statements from sources other than what I have mentioned, such statements are not true at all," he said in a statement posted on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page.
He strongly condemned an article from Singapore's The Independent for using and manipulating Tunku Ismail's statement on a political issue between Mr Nazri and Mr Kuok.
"Tunku Ismail has never made any statements on the issue.
"I request everyone to stop linking His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim and Tunku Ismail with political issues," he said.
RETRACTED
Checks found that The Independent has since retracted the article, saying it has not met their editorial standards and apologised for the grievances caused.
It was reported that Mr Nazri had described Mr Kuok as a "pondan" (effeminate), and had challenged him to return to contest in the coming polls, adding that he should also give up his Malaysian citizenship.
This came after blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin posted three articles on the website Malaysia Today, alleging that Mr Kuok was funding various political parties to overthrow the Government.
In response, Mr Kuok refuted the allegations, and said he reserved the right to take action against the portal, which was then ordered by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to take down the stories. - THE STAR
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
