Malaysian envoy’s wife disowns anti-Rizal, Anwar tweet

MANILA, Philippines—It wasn’t just a case of a tweet lost in translation.

Dato Zainab on Tuesday denied it was her who posted on Twitter a message calling Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal an “infidel Malay.”

Dato, wife of Malaysian ambassador to Manila Dr. Ibrahim Saad, explained that she was simply tagged in the tweet that caused a stir in the Philippines.

“”I hv never said anything agnst ur hero (I have never said anything against your hero),” Dato in her @datozainab Twitter account said.

She explained that a certain Bikmama2U tagged her in the post that was picked up by a Philippine columnist. The story quickly spread in the microblogging site.

The tweet, originally written in Bahasa and posted on July 16, said: “Anwar Ibrahim is clearly pro-Christian, an admirer of Jose Rizal the infidel Malay! Oh yes, don’t forget…”

Former president Joseph Ejercito Estrada on Monday chided Dato, saying she “effectively insulted our national hero Jose Rizal and the Filipino people who regard him with reverence” as he reminded her to refrain from using “religious diversities to sow hatred.”

It was Twitter user @PJ_Asual who posted the English translation and tagged Dato again.

Sounding annoyed, Dato said: “@datozainab: @PJ_Asual pls read twt in full. twt was from Bikmama2U & she tagged me. that is a false account set up by the MAL opposition. (Please read tweet in full. The tweet was from Bikmama2U  and she tagged me. That is a false account set up by the Malaysian opposition.)

At the same time, she wondered if her Twitter account had been hacked by the opposition.

“My twitter must hv (have) been hacked. Why is the opposition so scared of me that they hv (have) to do this.”

Ambassador Ibrahim said the tweet came from “someone who opposes our views…”

“Luckily we have the original tweet in the computer,” he tweeted using his @dribrahimsaad account.

Anwar, who was jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy but was acquitted in 2004, is visiting Manila to hold a lecture on Friday at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City on the influences of Rizal and Benigno Aquino Jr. on the Southeast Asian leadership.

While in prison, Anwar was said to have been inspired by Rizal’s novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, two of the hero’s searing social commentary against the oppressive Spanish colonial rule.