A herbal products seller from Seremban has been fined RM1,300 by the magistrates’ court, here, after pleading guilty to posting an insulting comment against Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Nor on Facebook.
Toraise @ Turesh Kumar Munusamy, 53, pleaded guilty before magistrate Anis Zainab Pawanteh. He admitted using the derogatory term “sakai” and belittling Ramli’s intelligence in a comment posted on May 27 at around 9.30pm.
According to the charge, the comment provoked anger and was likely to cause a breach of public peace.
Prosecuting officer Herman Kayae handled the prosecution while R Balamurali represented Toraise.
Earlier, Balamurali appealed for a lighter sentence, saying that his client is a single father raising two children and earned only RM1,000 to RM1,500 a month from a small business.
He also said Toraise had pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, and apologised for his actions.
Herman, however, asked the court to impose a fair sentence as a deterrent, stressing that the accused’s actions could disrupt harmony.
Ramli, who is also a Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker, became Malaysia’s first Orang Asli MP when he was elected to the Cameron Highlands seat in a by-election in 2019. He won with a majority of 3,238 votes.
He defended the seat for a second term in the 2022 general election, winning with a greater majority of 4,544 votes.
The Orang Asli development department (Jakoa) had issued reminders that Jakun and Sakai, while being indigenous groups, carry a negative connotation.
