Under-fire Penang DAP rep brands Utusan ‘toilet paper’

GEORGE TOWN, May 25 — Likened to a dirty public toilet for his “celaka Umno”, DAP’s Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer fired back at Utusan Malaysia which he said was nothing more than “toilet paper”.

Rayer, who found himself in the spotlight the past week over his “celaka Umno” remark at the state legislative assembly, was dismissive of the Malay paper’s criticism today.

“If they want to compare me to a toilet, then I will say Utusan is like toilet paper, not worth reading,” the lawyer said when asked to comment on the piece by Awang Selamat in the Umno-backed paper’s weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia.

Awang Selamat, a pseudonym used to represent the collective voice of the paper’s editors, advised Rayer to seek treatment for his “foul-mouthed” condition.

It criticised Rayer for being unable to discern from a legislative assembly and a public toilet, resulting in him making the “celaka Umno” remark on May 20.

Rayer’s remarks had sparked outrage amongst Umno members, with Umno youth members demonstrating first at the state legislative assembly here the following day and again at the DAP headquarters on May 22.

The Umno youth members had even stormed into the state legislative assembly hall here demanding for Rayer to come out to apologise and retract his ‘celaka Umno’ words.

Rayer had refused to apologise nor retract his words by stating that he had only used the words to refer to three Umno leaders and not the whole Umno.

Awang also said Rayer’s remarks proved that DAP is the “most racist party” as its leaders are often ‘inciting and insulting other races’.

In response, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said readers should not give any credit to the paper.

“DAP has sued the newspaper so many times and won so many times where the daily had paid the party so many times but it will still continue on and on,” he said at a press conference this afternoon.

“It is a Nazi type of newspaper. Utusan is a paper with double standards and it should just be ignored,” he said.

The newspaper was not a paper for the educated or uneducated, he added.

“Utusan is only meant for racists and extremists and they will continue on and on with these kind of attacks,” he said.