PETALING JAYA: Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau (pic) has drawn brickbats for purportedly posting an insensitive tweet about contesting the Pulai parliamentary seat, shortly after its incumbent MP Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub was laid to rest.
Screenshots of the now-deleted tweet at 12.37pm on Monday (July 24) appear to show Lau posting: “Is it okay for me to contest in Pulai?”
Internet users were quick to chide his actions.
Among those sharing Lau’s deleted tweet was Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan.
“The late Salahuddin was just laid to rest. The Gerakan president is already tweeting this. You are not getting away,” he tweeted.
User @bumilangit posted the screenshot with the caption “Do you think by deleting, the problem can be solved”?
Another user @scarredpotatoes tweeted: “He (Salahuddin) has just passed yet you are still playing politics. Can’t you show some respect?”
Another user, @Iaimawwnnn said: “Don’t say it was the (page) admin’s mistake when you manage it yourself,” the tweet read.
Similarly, user @farhanzulkefly shared a screenshot of the tweet, questioning how the Gerakan president could say such a thing when the late Salahuddin was just buried.
“Will PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin reprimand him? Your friend is being rude,” the tweet read in reference to Gerakan being a party under the Perikatan Nasional coalition which also comprises PAS and Bersatu.
Earlier Monday, the remains of Salahuddin were laid to rest at the Jalan Sulong Muslim cemetery at Kampung Serkat, Pontian, Johor.
The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister was buried at 12.05pm.
Salahuddin passed away at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Kedah on Sunday (July 23). He was 61.
His death was confirmed in a Facebook post by his daughter Fatihah Salahuddin.
Salahuddin, who was Johor Pakatan Harapan chief and Amanah deputy president, was in the intensive care unit of Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Setar after he suffered a brain haemorrhage on Friday.
On July 21, the minister’s press secretary Syakirin Husnal had said that Salahuddin was rushed to the hospital after experiencing nausea and vomiting.
Born in Pontian, Johor, to Malay-Chinese parents, Salahuddin graduated from Universiti Putra Malaysia and worked in a bank before he ventured into politics.
In 1999, he joined PAS and contested the Johor state seat of Benut but lost.
He then contested for the parliamentary seat of Kubang Kerian in Kelantan in 2004 and won. He retained the seat in the 2008 general election.
In 2013, he returned to his hometown in Johor and contested the parliamentary seat of Pulai but lost to Barisan Nasional’s Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
However, in 2018, after breaking away from PAS three years earlier and forming Amanah, he contested under the Pakatan Harapan ticket and won both the Pulai parliamentary seat and the Johor state seat of Simpang Jeram.
He retained Pulai in the 15th General Election last year and the Simpang Jeram state seat in the Johor state election in 2022.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
