KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan disagreed with the notion that her autobiography titled Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey had caused uneasiness among Muslims, as the book had been read by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and added that the Home Ministry had not banned her book.

Testifying on the stand in her defamation suit against Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff for his Facebook postings on her in 2017, Yeoh also said that since she became a politician, many churches did not want to be associated with her.

During re-examination by her lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, Yeoh was asked if she felt her book had caused uneasiness among Muslims as alleged by Kamarul in his witness testimony and Facebook postings, to which Yeoh disagreed.

“I disagree, as that is his opinion based on what he wrote. My book has never been banned since its publication for many years, and has been reprinted 18 times, and all 18 times, I got Muslims and non-Muslims reading the book,” she said on the stand on Tuesday before High Court judge Datuk Aliza Sulaiman.

“The Home Ministry never banned the book; I mean the period of time when we were in, and then out, of government, despite others lodging police reports, the book was never banned,” she said.

“Moreover, there is no evidence that any Muslim has deviated from his/her faith by reading Becoming Hannah. On the contrary, the book has been endorsed by Muslim leaders in the country,” she said.

In this suit, Yeoh is suing Kamarul, who was a special officer to the prime minister from 2021 to 2022, over two Facebook posts uploaded by the defendant in May 2017.

In the postings, Kamarul alleged that Yeoh "has a motive to proselytise Christianity through her politics".

The UUM lecturer cited Yeoh’s book in coming to the conclusion that she was driving a Christian agenda.

In her claim, Yeoh said Kamarul had also claimed that she "intends to convert Malaysia into a Christian country".

She contended that the words were offensive, completely untrue, and a malicious attempt to seriously defame her.

Yeoh is seeking general, aggravated, and exemplary damages from the defendant.

While testifying on the stand, Yeoh explained why she wrote the book.

“Ever since I became a politician...a lot of churches don’t want to be associated with politicians. Hence in answering the call to serve my country via politics, I did not want to be a preacher anymore. But, many people wanted to hear my story on coming into a dark space to fight corruption [via politics],” she said.

After Yeoh was released from the stand, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad also took the stand as a witness for her, and said that she had never used her position to spread Christianity for as long as he had known her since 2008, when they both contested for their respective state assembly seats within the Kelana Jaya parliamentary constituency.

“This is again outrageous and demeaning, as the plaintiff (Yeoh) is not a person who uses her position to spread Christianity; rather, the plaintiff has introduced many reforms that have allowed Umno in the (Selangor) State Assembly to play its role as the opposition at that time,” he said.

“Moreover, I have many Christian friends with whom I enjoy discussing our shared and differing beliefs. I find it easier to work with other politicians who are similarly motivated by the positive values of their faith,” Nik Nazmi added.

Yeoh was the the Selangor State Assembly Speaker from 2013 until 2018. She was the Subang Jaya state assemblywoman until 2018, after which she became the Segambut Member of Parliament.

The trial continues on Jan 14.