PENANG Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow today defended former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau, saying the government acted in haste to ban his comic on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, reports Malay Mail Online.

Chow reportedly said there could also be ulterior motives in banning the comic for supposedly promoting communism.

“The authorities need to look at the real intentions behind the comic and look at it in detail before banning it,” the Penang DAP chief was quoted as saying in George Town.

“They should have asked experts to review the comic and get their views before banning it,” he added.

He said that Hew had only wanted to highlight China’s economic success and standing as an alternative to the US as a global superpower.

The Home Ministry had, on Wednesday, banned the comic, deeming it inappropriate for promoting “communism and socialism” as well as spreading “confusing facts”.

Chow also said his state government does not own the Asia Comic Cultural Museum, of which Hew is the curator.

He added that the state exco had this morning discussed the state’s support for the museum, adding no action has been taken against the museum itself.

“The museum was set up in 2016 in ICT Mall at Level Two of Komtar during a time when the state government was taking steps to rejuvenate Komtar,” he said.

“It is a tourism product that is unique in Malaysia and even Asia; it is a comic museum that promotes creativity and animation, where various events were held by famous comic artists there,” he added.

“We only support in terms of rental and the rental goes to Penang Development Corporation; this is the only link between the state and the museum.” 

He said the state has an agreement with the museum to support it until December 2020.

Meanwhile, former DAP leader, Kua Kia Soong slammed the party for not standing up to its coalition partners.

Kua, who is Suaram adviser, said it was astonishing that DAP had not dared to say a word after “decades of breast-beating indignation against BN repression”.

“How can they wash their hands off Hew when it was their secretary-general (Lim Guan Eng) who had written the foreword to this comic book, the DAP deputy education minister (Teo Nie Ching) who helped to launch it and the DAP national chairperson (Tan Kok Wai) who appointed Hew to be the China-Malaysia Business Council CEO?

“For years, Hew had served the DAP well as the ‘bad mouth for hire’ at political ceramahs,” said Kua in a statement.

He added that it was time for DAP and Pakatan Harapan to deliver the reforms they promised before GE14.

“These did not include absurd censorship of comic books, cowardly connivance with the Home Ministry nor any of the BN’s repressive policies,” he said. – October 25, 2019.