Toraise @ Turesh Kumar Munusamy, 53, pleaded guilty before magistrate Anis Zainab Pawanteh. He admitted using the derogatory term “sakai” and belittling Ramli’s intelligence in a comment posted on May 27 at around 9.30pm.

According to the charge, the comment provoked anger and was likely to cause a breach of public peace.

Prosecuting officer Herman Kayae handled the prosecution while R Balamurali represented Toraise.

Earlier, Balamurali appealed for a lighter sentence, saying that his client is a single father raising two children and earned only RM1,000 to RM1,500 a month from a small business.

He also said Toraise had pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, and apologised for his actions.

Herman, however, asked the court to impose a fair sentence as a deterrent, stressing that the accused’s actions could disrupt harmony.

Ramli, who is also a Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker, became Malaysia’s first Orang Asli MP when he was elected to the Cameron Highlands seat in a by-election in 2019. He won with a majority of 3,238 votes.

He defended the seat for a second term in the 2022 general election, winning with a greater majority of 4,544 votes.

The Orang Asli development department (Jakoa) had issued reminders that Jakun and Sakai, while being indigenous groups, carry a negative connotation.