I’m the Akbar you’re looking for, former senator tells Kit Siang

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 ― Former Malacca senator Datuk Akbar Ali has named himself as the Twitter user who posted an image accusing Lim Kit Siang of being the “Father of May 13”, after the DAP leader threatened to sue a similarly named blogger over the photo.

The former director-general of the Statistics Department yesterday again took to Twitter to inform the Gelang Patah MP that the latter had mistakenly identified blogger Syed Akbar Ali as the poster of the image.

“@limkitsiang wu an..may I explain. The tweet YB referred to was fr me..sincerely forwarded fyi & have the right to explain/defend. Tqvm, YB,” he tweeted today.

Syed Akbar, who blogs under the name OutSyed The Box, said yesterday that he has never used Twitter though he set up an account on the social networking site “some time ago”.

He also denied ever tweeting anything about Lim specifically.

Lim said yesterday that he would sue Syed Akbar for allegedly tweeting a graphic that called the DAP veteran “Bapa 13 Mei” (Father of May 13) and depicted him in the garb favoured by the late China leader, Mao Tse Tung.

The Gelang Patah MP also listed down the allegedly defamatory “anti-Malay” statements and slogans in the graphic that were attributed to him.

The list of 10 remarks featured in the graphic was indicated as having allegedly been made on May 11 and 12, 1969 in areas within Kuala Lumpur.

But Lim denied ever making these statements, repeating his previous insistence that he was outside of Kuala Lumpur from May 11 to May 13, 1969.

Lim today said he will leave his lawyers to handle the issue following the blogger’s denial.

Hundreds of Malaysians are believed to have died during the May 13, 1969 clashes between the Malays and the Chinese. Although ostensibly triggered by the results of Election 1969, it was rooted in ethnic tensions between the two communities.