A PENANG-BASED photographer said he was locked out of his Facebook account after posting a protest on Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s page over the minister’s order to remove the portraits of LGBT activists Nisha Ayub and Pang Khee Teik from the George Town Festival exhibition.

John Cheong said some two hours after posting his “alternative viewpoint” at 7.15pm yesterday on the Islamic affairs minister’s Facebook page, he could not access his account around 9pm.

Cheong said his FB account was attacked and reported as fake.

He blamed Mujahid’s Facebook administrators for the attack and reporting him.

A friend, Mujahidin Zulkiffli, reported the suspension of his “good friend, and a real person John Cheong” in his Facebook account.

Mujahidin said the “real John Cheong” was one of the founders of Bersih Singapore and a runner for UndiPos from Singapore and “helped put Mujahid where he is today”.

Cheong regained access to his account by 2am and around 8am today, received a reply from the minister.

Responding to Cheong, Mujahid thanked him for his concern and stated that the government’s stand on LGBT is clear.

“Their choices are their right as long as they keep it in their private life but promoting it is not acceptable in our society,” Mujahid said.

“I’m clear and it has been our concern to preserve the norms of the society.

“I’m also saddened your friend Mujahidin Zulkifli accused me of deleting your message.

“How can I do that while I’m responding to you and accept your comment. Someone must have impersonated my account.”

Cheong said he will respond to Mujahid “soon”.

When he was locked out, Cheong wondered why Mujahid’s administrators would want to report him as an imposter or impersonator for the posting unless “the minister is simply saying: ‘I will only listen to my point of view’, with scant regard to other people’s view point”.

“As a minister, he has an obligation to consider other view points. This is not the government we have asked for,” Cheong told The Malaysian Insight.

In his posting on Mujahid’s FB page, Cheong said the decision asking for the withdrawal of two portraits of LGBT activists from the Stripes and Strokes exhibition in George Town was disappointing.

“This is not the Malaysia I fought for nor the one did I vote for in GE14. We fought for and voted for a Malaysia that is inclusive and which prospers because of our diversity.

“Your decision to influence a public art event is bigoted and reprehensible and sets us back in our quest to realise our hope for a country where we can all be accepted equally and where we can contribute equally,” he said.

Cheong said he has no wish to debate with the minister on the issue of LGBT rights.

“I will leave it to more eminently qualified people to correct him on his erroneous interpretations and applications.

“I am only presenting an alternative view point to his order. I believed in equality and human rights.” – August 9, 2018.