PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have the right to express their thoughts, says Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, after netizens vented their fury on former Polish swimmer Bart Kizierowski's Facebook page, following his statement on the ban on Israeli swimmers at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championship in Sarawak.
Kizierowski has since deactivated his Facebook page due to the flurry of comments.
When asked about the “cyberbullying” on Kizierowski, Syed said, “He has the right to express his opinion. Other Malaysians have their rights, too. I hope things would be kept civil.
"Yesterday, there was a journalist from the Jewish Times who tweeted that I am racist. I responded to his tweet, and other Malaysians did it too.
“He (The reporter) then copied and pasted all the responses from the netizens against him and claimed that those tweets against him were fake accounts.
“I responded by saying that they are all 'Bawangrians' (sic), fellow Malaysians who are highly opinionated. When you stand in their way, they will lash out at you. All of us have been on the receiving end.
"It is freedom of expression, and hopefully, it won't get violent and physical,” he told reporters at a press conference, after witnessing the National Sports Council (NSC) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday (Jan 29).
He stressed that freedom of expression should be upheld, but it should not get violent.
“We want to be a voice for the voiceless in Palestine. Malaysians will never leave them. I urge Malaysians to continue speaking up on this issue,” Syed Saddiq said.
Kizierowski, who was supposed to coach the Malaysian swimming team, declined the position due to recent statements made by Malaysian politicians regarding the refusal of a visa for athletes that were supposed to compete at the World Championships organised by that country.
On Sunday (Jan 27), the IPC stripped Malaysia of the right to host the championship, which is scheduled for July 29-Aug 4 in Kuching, saying that the Malaysian Home Ministry failed to provide the necessary guarantee that Israeli swimmers could participate in the championships safely and free from discrimination.
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