Sepang Umno chief Noorazli Said has hit back at DAP leaders who questioned the sincerity of his apology over a lewd joke involving Catholic clergy.
Noorazli said DAP leaders were not in a position to judge whether his apology was sincere, arguing that only God could determine a person’s true intentions.
He maintained that he had sincerely apologised and never intended to insult Christians, priests or nuns. However, he acknowledged that he deserved criticism for his “inaccurate” reference to Psalm 129 in the Bible.
“If what I said hurt the feelings of the Christian community, I apologise. That is my stand,” he said in a Facebook post.
Noorazli also cited several Bible verses on forgiveness and mercy, while urging his critics to be fair in their response.
“Don’t talk about love and tolerance, and then rush to judge one’s sincerity when they offer an apology. If every apology must pass a political evaluation before it’s accepted, our society will never have peace.
“I’m not asking anyone to forget what happened. I’m simply asking you to be fair.
“I am choosing to learn from this and move forward with respect for all religions, because my religion teaches love, tolerance and forgiveness. I hope my critics are ready to do the same,” he said.
Noorazli came under fire after making the joke during a speech at the Umno general assembly on Saturday. The joke involved a priest and a nun and included a punchline that he incorrectly attributed to Psalm 129.
A police report was subsequently lodged against him, while Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh, Sabah Umno treasurer Salleh Said Keruak and Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau called on him to apologise.
Noorazli said yesterday that he was “prepared to apologise” if he had caused any misunderstanding or offended anyone, particularly members of the Christian community.
Several hours later, he edited his Facebook post, changing the wording to state that he apologised rather than saying he was “prepared to apologise”.
DAP Bilut assemblyman Lee Chin Chen subsequently criticised the statement, arguing that offering to apologise if someone found the joke offensive was different from directly apologising for making an inappropriate joke.
