PETALING JAYA, Aug 12 – The Selangor support letter saga turned farcical today when state Speaker Teng Chang Khim claimed that the “real culprit” he was referring to in his controversial tweet, “OMG! Real culprit freed!”, was Chinese film actor Qi Yuwu, who recently starred in action-thriller film “14 Blades”.

Teng, who was summoned before the DAP disciplinary committee hearing today to explain his tweet, said the whole issue was just a big misunderstanding.

After a 45-minute explanation to the committee, Teng (picture) told the media outside the DAP headquarters here that he had, in no way, been referring to the case of sacked DAP councillor Tee Boon Hock when he tweeted at 9.22pm on July 31.

“I was watching a movie in my car at the time, during my one-hour journey from Johor to Yong Peng,” he said, causing sniggers in the crowd of media personnel.

The movie Teng was watching was “14 Blades”, a 2010 action-thriller-Wuxia film directed by Daniel Lee.

Teng said that he had provided proof to back his explanation to the committee in the form of letters of confirmation from the emcees of the two political functions he had to attend on July 31.

In the first function, Teng said he had attended a PKR dinner at the Grand Seaview restaurant at 8.30pm in Batu Pahat.

“I received a confirmation letter from the function’s emcee, local councillor Chua Yee Ling, saying that I arrived there at 8.30pm and I was the first speaker. I left the place at 9pm and headed to Yong Peng for another function,” he said.

Teng added that since the journey from Batu Pahat took one hour instead of the usual half hour due to traffic, he decided to entertain himself by watching “14 Blades”.

“I also have another letter from Johor DAP secretary Gan Peck Cheng confirming that on the same day, I arrived for the second function at Yong Peng and left only at 11pm,” he said.

From that function, Teng said he left for home in Subang.

“It was a long journey so I continued the first movie and watched another one – Bodyguards and Assassins,” he said.

He added that he also had two more letters from his two drivers, confirming that he had watched both movies during his journey in Johor on July 31.

Teng pointed out that at 11.49pm the same day, he had tweeted a second time in Mandarin saying that “he who is guilty does not die and he who is innocent died”.

He claimed that this was also in reference to the movie.

Teng’s first tweet “OMG! Real culprit freed!” had caused a stir for it had come shortly after Tee was sacked by the committee for allegedly forging the signatures of a Selangor state executive councillor.

Tee was accused of wrongfully signing support letters to approve contracts worth over RM1 million to 16 companies, one of which is co-owned by his son, Chin Chin.

The Star newspaper, in its report the day after Tee’s sacking from the party had made a reference to Teng’s tweet and linked it to Tee’s sacking.

DAP disciplinary committee chairman Tan Kok Wai, in an immediate response, called for a press conference the following day and announced that the committee would summon Teng to explain his tweet in its hearing today.

At the time, Teng had responded to Tan’s announcement by saying that he would not attend the hearing unless he was summoned in his capacity as a DAP member and not as the Selangor state Speaker.

He did not explain his tweet immediately to the media and instead, chose to keep mum on the issue.

“You may ask me why I did not explain but you must realise, the DC immediately announced that I would be called to face the hearing, failing which I would be committing contempt.

“I figured that since this was a serious charge, the best way was to explain this to the DC and not to the press. That was why I did not say anything ... I decided I would only do so during the hearing, to show respect to the DC,” he said.

He pointed out however that on the same day that Tan made the announcement, he had tweeted at 7pm saying “For record purpose, jinyiwei is the answer”.

“I was referring to ‘jinyiwei’ which is the imperial guard in the movie. That was the real culprit – the jinyiwei, because he betrayed the main star of the movie,” he said.

Teng admitted however that during the whole controversy over his tweets, he had been fully aware that Tee had been sacked.

“Yes I knew, but I was not tweeting about it,” he insisted.

He said that the lesson that should be learned from the whole debacle was that there should be better communication among DAP leaders.

“There should be more effective communication. That is why as far as I am concerned, when the DC made its announcement that I would be called forward, I thought it would be improper to call them to explain to them first what my tweet meant.

“This is the principle I have to uphold,” he said.

He added that no one from the DC had called him to seek an explanation from him first before summoning him for a hearing,

When asked about his relationship with Tan, Teng noted that it was merely cordial.

“We argue over issues but we do communicate. We always try our best to be professionals,” he said.

On his relationship with Selangor state executive councilor, Ronnie Liu, however, Teng admitted that it was slightly strained.

“We are comrades because we share the same cause but we have different styles and we may not see eye to eye.

“But this is common. If I say I see eye to eye with everyone, then I am just a blind follower and not fit to be a leader.

“We are on talking terms, yes. We share a comradeship,” he said.

Liu has also been summoned to face the committee. He is presently waiting his turn at the DAP headquarters. The meeting is still ongoing.