KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — The National Patriots Association (Patriot) today demanded a public apology from Utusan Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Perak Umno information chief Mohd Zolkafly Harun for insinuating its president and the organisation is corrupt in an article.

Its public communication director Capt (Retired) Wong Ang Peng said the ex-servicemen’s group will take legal action against the Malay daily and the Opposition politician if they do not do so.

“Insinuating that Patriot is dishonest and corrupt is serious. The editor and writer of the Utusan Online article owe the President and members of Patriot a public apology. We are prepared to seek legal remedies if the unconditional apology is not forthcoming.

“Both Mohd Zolkafly Harun and the Utusan Online article through its headline had insinuated that Patriot was dishonest, received favours, and even corrupted,” Wong said in a statement.

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He was referring to the Malay article quoting Zolkafly published on the website of the Umno-linked newspaper on August 15 titled “Patriot membisu kerana sudah termakan budi?” in reference to controversy over a tycoon’s assertion that Malaysia’s military should be redeployed as farmhands where they would be more productive.

Wong clarified that Patriot was far from “silent” as alleged in the Utusan Online article after IJM Corporation and Gamuda Berhad founder Tan Sri Koon Yew Yin stirred the hornet’s nest with his blog post that the armed forces were “doing nothing except eating and sleeping”.

He said the group was “very perturbed” by Koon’s remarks and contacted officials in the Defence Ministry to look into the matter and verify if the tycoon made the assertion.

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After receiving confirmation, Wong said Patriot responded with a statement criticising Koon’s ignorance on the armed forces’ role, adding that its remarks were carried in several news organisations on August 14, a day before the Utusan Online article was published.

Wong claimed that Patriot’s name and that of its president Brigadier-General (Retired) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji have been tarnished after the Utusan Online report.

“These derogatory remarks are not just confined to Utusan Online readers, but has spread to social media where many also said that Patriots are stooges of DAP. So much hatred and repugnant postings has now resulted from Utusan’s omission,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mohamed Arshad had lashed out at businessman Koon for his views on the military.

He said it was the second time in less than two months that the armed forces personnel were viewed as cheap labour and had called for Koon and all politicians to change the way they view military personnel.

Prior to Koon’s statement, Mohamed Arshad said Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh had suggested redirecting excess military personnel to ‘assist the government uplift and stabilise the rural village community’, including sending them to work as security guards and women personnel to help clean houses and conduct courses for housewives.