[Malaysiakini] Police admitted someone from UMNO has lodged police report against Nie Ching
~ Regina Lee
First-term Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching has finally given her statement to the police over the surau incident where she had stepped inside the prayer hall minus the head scarf.
Almost two months have rolled on since the mid-August event, and the police told her the morning that they were getting her statement only now just to "understand" what had really taken place, she said.
When contacted by Malaysiakini after Teo's (right) visit to the Kajang district police headquarters, she also said that they had revealed to her that it was someone from UMNO who had lodged the police report against her.
"We asked them 'was it UMNO?' and they said 'yes'," she said.
She also said that in the questioning session which lasted nearly an hour, the police had asked her loaded questions.
"At first they asked me some very general questions about myself and the incident.Then later they started asking me all these leading questions that made me feel very uncomfortable.
"They asked me things like 'are you aware that a lot of Malays were unhappy with your actions?' and 'are you aware that you have incited racial tensions?'.
"The line of questioning was very unfair and unprofessional on the side of the police," she said.
They also questioned Selangor exco and state DAP chief Ean Yong Hian Wah at the same time, but in a separate room.
The two had also enlisted the help of DAP's Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo for legal assistance.
Police just wanted her version of story.
However, the police had told her that they merely wanted to get her version of the story, and that the two politicians were not "in serious trouble".
"It was very strange that they said that, but we had nothing to hide anyway and we cooperated with them," said Teo.
Teo ignited a firestorm when Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia front-paged a photo of her speaking at a surau in Kajang Sentral on Aug 22, where the congregation had invited her into the prayer hall.
Apart from the photo that showed the first-term MP in a tight kebaya similar to the Singapore Airlines flight attendant's uniform with her head uncovered, the newspaper had also claimed she delivered tazkirah (religious advice).
In her own defence, Teo had said that she was explaining the Selangor government's policies and assistance programs in her speech. She added that it was the surau committee that had invited her in and asked her to address the congregation.
The Selangor Islamic Council suspended the committee and issued Teo a caution for addressing the gathering at the surau.
Later,Teo had later apologised to the Sultan of Selangor for the incident.
Taken from Malaysiakini.
Malaysian Bar Council 
