Senator Alan Ling
MIRI: DAP Sarawak secretary and senator Alan Ling Sie Kiong is relieved that he has been vindicated by an apology from a Miri couple who had verbally attacked him during a function and slandered him on social media last Saturday.
He said that the organiser of the event through the Federation of the Miri Division Chinese Associations chairman Datuk Hii Teck Yun had forwarded a photo and news of the apology tendered by the couple.
After the fiasco, the couple had stepped forward on Tuesday to tender a written and oral apology towards Ling for the wrongful accusations that they had hurled previously. This was witnessed by Hii.
“The truth has prevailed and I am vindicated. Thank you for your concern,” he posted in a DAP Miri media WhatsApp group on Tuesday.
In a press conference on Monday, Ling called upon social media users to be more responsible and avoid tarnishing the image and reputations of others when using the internet and social media.
The press conference which was hosted by Hii was also attended by the federation’s legal advisor Ling Kwong Yu, and vice chairmen of Miri Hunyuan Hexiang Zhuang Qigong Association, Hiung Tee Ming and Yong Yee Yeam.
Miri Hunyuan Hexiang Zhuang Qigong Association and Hii expressed regret over the incident and apologised to Ling, who was invited to the event as the guest of honour, for the embarrassment caused.
Ling was saddened by the incident whereby he was verbally attacked by a man when delivering his speech at a function last Saturday, followed by a wrongful accusation through a Facebook post at the same evening.
At the function, a man had shouted at Ling who was on the stage, demanding the latter to talk about health and not politics. Thereafter, a Facebook post by the man’s wife accusing Ling of damaging the man’s phone after an argument.
Ling said he remained calm and continued his speech later but later was caught by surprise by a Facebook post accusing him of retaliating and damaging the handphone of the antagonist.
The post was removed an hour after it was posted but it went viral, an action which Ling said was unacceptable as not only was it very disrespectful of the organiser, the person also failed to show respect to everyone who attended the event.
The senator , who lodged a police report over the incident, said he retained his right to seek justice against those who responsible for defamation.