CONTROVERSIAL: The 1Malaysia exercise book, which bears Najib's likeness, is not being distributed in schools as claimed by a pro-Opposition website. Pix: SM AminKUALA LUMPUR: What happens when a quirky art project is turned into a tool for political propaganda?

This is what has riled up the creators of art project Gerai 1Malaysia, the brainchild behind a raft of merchandises bearing designs which offer a tongue-in-cheek look at Malaysia.

The people behind the project claim that a pro-Opposition website Keadilan Daily (keadilandaily.com), had used one of its merchandise and spun it into a piece of political propaganda to suit its own purposes.

And now, they want the website, which claims to be the ‘official news portal of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’, to issue a public apology not only to the merchandise creators, but also to the public for misleading them.

June Low, 27, said she and her friend, graphic artist Adila Abdul Malik, 25, had come up with the idea of Malaysia-themed artwork and merchandise to feature at an event, Art for Grabs, at the Annexe Gallery at Central Market on September 22.

June (right) with the 'Najib schoolbook' at the Gerai 1Malaysia event.The theme of the event was ‘Janji Ditutupi’, a play on the government’s recent Merdeka Day theme, Janji Ditepati.

"At the event, we displayed a range of comedic art merchandise, such as plain white T-shirts bearing a sketch of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak holding his cat, which buyers can colour in themselves.

"Other items also included a school exercise book, which bore a likeness of the PM on the front cover with the 1Malaysia logo. The back of the exercise book featured the guideline on how to spot lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) which made the news recently," she said.

June manning the Gerai 1Malaysia booth.They also had posters bearing the LGBT guidelines drawn on comic panels.

She said the book, in particular, captured the imagination of the visitors who came to the event, and all 100 copies, retailing at RM3 each, were quickly sold out.

"Our intention was to amuse and share a laugh with others. Those who came to the event were aware of what we set out to do, which was indulge in a bit of light-hearted humour and they appreciated that," said Low.

However, problems began after Low uploaded a picture of the exercise book cover on her Twitter account, together with other photos of the event, on the first day of the exhibition.

Low said she was shocked when she was subsequently informed that Keadilan Daily had used the image of the book and created a news article which she claimed could not be further from the truth.

On Monday, the website published a report claiming that the book was now being distributed in schools.

Excerpts from the article read: "Desperate to bolster its waning support, Umno Barisan Nasional has now been reduced to using school children to ensure its political survival.

"The 1Malaysia logo, together with Najib’s face, is now being displayed on school exercise books, which are being distributed in schools."

Screenshot of the article on the Keadilan Daily website.The article had quoted PKR’s Rembau chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, as slamming the move and equalling it to that of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who had put up his image across Egypt shortly before his downfall in the Arab Spring revolution.

Badrul, who is a former teacher, was quoted as saying that the move (putting Najib’s face on exercise books) would not work as school children could not yet vote.

"Is Najib so afraid until he has to put his image on everything?" he was quoted as saying.

PKR central leadership committee member Fariz Musa was also quoted in the article lambasting Najib for "immersing political elements into schools."

This has not gone down well with Low, who described it as "irresponsible journalism".

"To twist the truth to this extent without fact-checking is disgusting. It is simply irresponsible journalism," she said.

Low, who has experience organizing events concerning art and the like, strongly felt that people deserve to be informed accordingly and not manipulated with false reports.

"All the ideas were of our own. It’s was humorous art. Art is important as it is a form of expression but it doesn’t mean it is harmful.

"Those responsible for this have to straighten it out and be accountable for the wrong they have done. I would like to see what they and how they are going to fix this scandal," she said.

 Adila, meanwhile, felt that her freedom of speech via her art has been restricted when other parties try to manipulate it according to their own political agenda, which she said “takes the fun out of it."

"What we did was all for fun. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously in the first place.

"The people who came to the art fest knew what to expect. Taking advantage of our creativity and manipulate it into a political propaganda is just wrong. Our message was to entertain and humor the people who came. There was no political message behind it," she said.

Low said she was horrified when the website’s article and her photo subsequently went viral and attracted derogatory comments.

Low then attempted to contact the website via its Twitter handle, but her demands for an explanation went unanswered. She eventually received some help when PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar and later PKR’s Batu MP Tian Chua, via Twitter, also persuaded Keadilan Daily to check on the matter.

The article was subsequently removed from the website on Wednesday.

However, Low said Keadilan Daily should own up to its mistake and apologize.

"It isn’t enough that they just remove the article. What they did is grossly uncalled; it’s ridiculous that they could come out with such preposterous lies.

"They did not act fairly by running the story without verifying the facts.  We want them to not only apologize to us, but also to the public for publishing lies," she said.

Bar Council constitutional law committee chairman, Syahredzan Johan, who had attended the event, said it was an example of “unethical journalism.”

"This is a clear display of lack of journalism ethics by running a story without doing basic fact-checking.

"Those who attended the event could see that the Gerai 1Malaysia booth was a parody, not meant to be taken seriously. The creators did not portray themselves that way and just by looking at it, you can tell that it was all in the name of fun. It was very obvious that it didn’t come from the government," he said.

"The source of the exercise book was not difficult to verify. And until now there has been no apology or retraction of the article. Was this all deliberate?" he said.

Malaysian Digest had yesterday contacted Keadilan Daily’s reporter who wrote the story to ascertain how the writer had come up the information. We were informed that she would have to refer to her editor for a response.

At Press time, no feedback has been received from Keadilan Daily.

- mD