ULTRA-RIGHTIST Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh gets a taste of his own medicine when Muslims and non-Muslims turned the table on him for delayed reaction and mild reprimand over the obscene priest-nun analogy by Sepang UMNO chief Noorazli Said during the recent 2026 UMNO General Assembly.
Not only that, some cheeky commenters to his social media post have mooted the need for a nationwide lodging of police report or even mobilising a protest march by his Youth wing at state level.
This is given they deemed merely letting off his party senior by making “a mandatory apology” is insufficient judging from his past track records as seen in the KK Supermart’s Allah inscription on socks saga and that of the upside down Jalur Gemilang blunder by a hardware store owner in mainland Penang.
Apparently, the staunch defender of race and religion has attributed his delayed reaction to “being pre-occupied with flood relief operation in his (Merlimau) constituency” after being ‘attacked’ for condoning the act of belittling non-Muslim religion and beliefs.
“Is this how UMNO teaches its members to respect other religions and races? Where were you when this useless individual made such a statement or speech?” fumed a company CEO.
“You along with all the other members and your UMNO president were sitting right there at the gathering, weren’t you? Was there applause after this fool finished speaking? Why didn’t you put a stop to it while such a speech was being delivered?”
In a rather slap-on-the-wrist reprimand by his standard, the Merlimau state assemblyman had stressed that religion is not something to be made the subject of a joke.
“Just imagine if the joke about the priest had instead featured an imam and Muslims; we would certainly be angry, too. If we would be angry at being treated that way, then we should refrain from doing the same to others,” he had penned on his Facebook page.
“Therefore, I urge this individual to publicly apologise to all Malaysians. The joke he made is in no way reflective of UMNO’s stance; it was entirely his own personal doing. An apology is mandatory!”
As it is, the Catholic Lawyers’ Society (CLS) of Kuala Lumpur will lodge a police report against Noorazli who is also the Dengkil state constituency coordinator over his purported “joke” involving a Catholic priest and a nun which he falsely attributed to Psalm 129.
CLS president Kevin De Rozario who condemned Noorazli’s remarks said the report would be lodged at the Petaling Jaya district police station yesterday (Sept 14).
In the said joke, a priest driving a manual Proton Saga spots a nun waiting at a bus stop and offers her a ride home.
Howeber, each time he changes gears, his hand brushes against the nun’s thigh and remains there, prompting her to remind him of Psalm 129 a.k.a. Surah Mazmur.
After reaching home, the priest checks the Bible to find out what the psalm supposedly says.
“Do you want to know what Psalm 129 says? … Go forth and seek further up and you will find glory,” Noorazli had remarked.
The Selangor UMNO leader had apparently used the joke to illustrate the importance of political wisdom while praising party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s leadership.
Meanwhile, Noorazli who has come forward to justify that the joke was intended as an analogy “to draw lessons on the importance of focus, perseverance and wisdom in achieving a goal” was ridiculed by Muslims and non-Muslims alike for issuing a half-hearted and conditional apology as well as having “crossed the 3R line”.
“However, I understand that when a story touches upon religious figures or references, it can be interpreted in various ways and lead to misunderstandings, particularly within Malaysia’s multi-religious and multi-faith society,” he clarified.
“If my presentation has caused any misunderstanding or offended anyone – especially the Christian community – I humbly apologise. I also accept this as a lesson to be more careful in choosing analogies and conveying views in the future.” – Sept 15, 2026
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