Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne holds no grudges over the blow he received from Seri Setia state assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad’s personal assistant yesterday.
The PKR parliamentarian who was punched on the corner of his right eye by Mior Azam Shah Mior Yahya did not sound very upset when contacted by Malaysiakini today.
“I do not hold any grudges against Azam. I still do not fully understand why he hit me but I am not angry at him.
“When he saw me at the police station, he apologised. He made a mistake,” he said.
Incidentally, both the two legislators are from the same party.
Yesterday, Loh lodged a police report against Azam after the incident which occurred during the ground-breaking ceremony for a surau at Desa Mentari in Selangor at about 3pm.
Complaints of surau project.
The parliamentarian went to see what was going on after learning there was a protest by residents living in the area against the construction of the surau.
He said the problem started two weeks ago when residents complained about the construction of a surau but he could not find out who was responsible for the construction.
He also noted that the structure has no permit from the local council and the residents disagree with the structure.
“The residents wanted a playground for the children, not another surau.
“I am not opposed to anything that people want to build as long the residents are properly consulted and have agreed to it,” he stated.
After speaking to the protesters, Loh approached the organisers of the function to discuss with them the residents’ concern and was suddenly punched in the face by Azam.
“I kept asking (Azam), ‘Who was responsible for this?’ for about 10 times and pointed at him saying, ‘You as a PA should know’. That was when he punched me in the face above my right eye,” he said.
Immediately after the incident, the police controlled the crowd who tried to reprimand Azam themselves.
‘I don’t want him to go to jail’
However, Loh stated that he will not retract his police report because it was necessary to send out the right message.
“I will not retract the police report. If I do so, that sends out a message that anybody can whack me and I don’t want that.
“I only hope there will be no serious consequences against him.
I don’t want him to go to jail,” he said.
Loh then said that the people behind this construction had decided to halt the project as they await further consultation with about 6,000 of the residents there.
Azam will be investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for assault. Azam could not be reached today for comment.
His boss, Nik Nazmi is currently overseas and is expected back in Kuala Lumpur tonight.