Chong will say it as he sees it
Hours after apologising for saying he was ashamed to sing the te reo verse of the national anthem a New Plymouth councillor has defended his right to say what he wants.
Murray Chong was criticised heavily online and censured by New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom after saying on Facebook he only sung the English version because it was the ‘‘original’’.
But in a statement, issued via text message at 10.48pm Tuesday, Chong said he was sorry for the hurt he had caused with his comments.
‘‘I wish to apologise to those offended by my comments on Facebook about the national anthem,’’ the text read.
‘‘I am sorry for making the comments and possible damage to the reputation of our wonderful city.
‘‘I am proud to be an elected councillor and always have the best interests of New Plymouth at heart.
‘‘I stand by my election promise of ‘saying it as I see it’. My intention is to encourage constructive discussion on issues important to ratepayers – even when others do not feel comfortable in doing so.’’
Holdom also wrote an opinion piece on Chong’s behaviour and comments.
In it he said freedom of speech should be cherished and respected but it was shameful that a ‘‘publicly elected New Zealand official’’ would seek to constantly seek to undermine the role of Ma¯ ori and te reo.
About 11.30am yesterday, Chong posted on his Facebook page defending his outspoken nature. While the post was initially public it was later restricted to his friends only.
‘‘I am proud that I strongly stand by my 2016 election promise of ‘Saying it as I see it’,’’ he wrote.
In the lengthy post he said he was not on the council to become entrenched in the ‘‘old boys’’ thinking and was there to represent the majority ratepayer and not council processes.
‘‘You can’t please everyone all the time, so in this world of sensitive millennials, and the easily offended PC groups that the media love to feed on, (at my expense) then there will always be friction.
‘‘Several times a day people tell me to keep up the good work of being a controversial councillor as that’s why we voted for you and yet the PC groups say I now can’t say certain things and state my opinions because I am now a councillor, well in my opinion as an elected representative I feel that getting these opinions out is even more important.’’
Chong said the district needed more representatives not afraid to speak up and say what they were thinking ‘‘rather than have those that simply won’t speak up though fear of offending the minority’’.
‘‘Because of this I do walk a fine line and yes sometimes I unintentionally step over it.’’