KUALA LUMPUR: Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei has clearly been “manipulated” by the Barisan Nasional when he agreed to receive his RM300,000 cheque in Permatang Pauh.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said there was no need to send Lee back to Permatang Pauh using an airplane provided by the Defence Ministry and landing at an airforce base for the purpose of the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign.
“In fact, I understand that he’s back here today. Why can’t the cheque presentation take place in Kuala Lumpur?
“It’s quite clear that he’s been manipulated and Barisan is using the ceremony to their advantage for the campaign.
“Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has also been using the ministry’s facilities in his campaign by flying to Penang.
“The use of the Defence Ministry’s facilities for the by-election is improper, a form of abuse and a waste of public funds,” he told reporters Thursday at the Parliament lobby here.
Lim said on the contrary, neither he nor any other DAP members use their official state cars when they go campaigning.
“We drive our own private cars. This should be the way. Clearly, Barisan has not learnt its lesson from the March 8 general election,” he said.
The badminton player received the cheque from Najib in a ceremony in Butterworth on Wednesday night.
He also received RM3,000 being the pension reward the Government had promised for the feat. The payments which begin next month are for life.
Lim said Najib should differentiate between private political interest and his government posts.
Asked about the conferment by Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas of the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN) award on Lee on Aug 30, which carries the title “Datuk”, Lim said the ceremony would take place after the polling date in Permatang Pauh.
“This is because we don’t want to be seen as taking advantage of him,” he said.
On the clash between Chong Eng (DAP - Bukit Mertajam) and Zulkifli Nordin (PKR - Kulim-Bandar Baru) in Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, Lim said it was up to PKR to discipline the latter.
In the disagreement between Chong and Zulkifli on the Bar Council “Conversion to Islam” forum, the latter had called Chong “racist” and “anti-Islam”.
Lim said he knew for a fact that Chong was not racist as her husband is an Indian and she is extremely popular with Malay voters in her constituency.
“I am disappointed with Zulkifli. I would expect such a statement to come from Umno and not from him - a PKR member,” he said.
Months of verbal jousting on the ‘Penang land scam’ culminated in a heated televised debate last evening between Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and his predecessor Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
The debate titled ‘The truth on the land controversy in Penang’, modeled after the US presidential debate system, lasted one-hour and was broadcast on two free-to-air channels.
Lim fired off his opening salvo by naming five cases of ‘land scandals’ - which he claimed had cost losses of up to RM1.5 billion to the state - allegedly due to faults by the former Barisan Nasional administration led by Koh.
Both participants eventually focused most of their attention the one particular case involving the previous administration’s approval of an application for a 4.25ha land in Seberang Perai Tengah district to a private contractor for quarrying activities.
This matter was referred to by both participants as the “RM40 million case” which is currently the subject of a legal battle between the state government and the private contractor.
Lim accused Koh’s administration of committing a scam as documents indicated that nearly all technical departments have opposed the state’s decision to award the land to a sole individual.
Koh however put the blame on an administrative error dating back to the 1960s and that the focus of the state government now should be on winning the court dispute.
When moderator Johan Jaafar quizzed both participants on the need to raise the ‘land scam’ now and whether it was a witch hunt, Koh jumped to the opportunity and accused Lim of politicising the matter to damage the credibility of the previous administration.
Lim, also the DAP secretary-general, retorted that it was incumbent upon the new government to expose any wrongdoings by the previous administration.
“We formed a CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) government and you can’t expect us to behave like the past government - cover things up and not let the public know,” said Lim.
Why no action against the culprits?
Lim and Koh also sparred on why the civil servants responsible for the “RM40 million case” were let off with just a warning.
Lim also accused Koh of merely giving civil servants responsible for the “RM40 million case” a mere slap on the wrist.
Koh replied that the matter had been probed internally and by the Anti-Corruption Agency twice where no concrete evidence can be found to take action on anyone.
“If he is not satisfied with two ACA investigations in the matter, the chief minister should initiated another round of probes,” retorted Koh, the Gerakan acting president.
This is the second time Lim and Koh faced off in a debate since 1990. Then the duo squared off in the Chinese Town Hall, Penang.
Today’s debate was organised by Internet news-portal Agendadaily.com and televised live on two free-to-air television stations.
Veteran journalist Wan Hamidi Hamid and former Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Abdul Aziz Rahim director-general were panelists brought by Lim and Koh respectively.
I write to you as one anak Bangsa Malaysia to another.
My friends and I were pleased to read in the Malaysiakini report of 14th August that you have forgiven your enemies for what they have done to you over the last ten years, but that you will never forget what they have done to you.
SEBERANG PERAI (Aug20, 2008) : Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has refuted a claim that he had, as the finance minister in 1998, told then chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon not to act against a company that had defaulted in its payments to the Penang government.
Calling Koh a “desperate politician” trying hard to salvage Gerakan, Anwar said his office had merely sent a letter to Koh to “study and address” an appeal by Business Focus Sdn Bhd (BFSB) to renegotiate its repayment scheme.
“There was a letter. He should not say that 10 years ago I had whispered to him. I am clearly disappointed,” Anwar said today in response to a statement by Koh yesterday that Anwar had telephoned him to ask him not to act against the company.
Anwar said Koh had lost the support of his Chinese base and was now trying to “kow-tow” to the Umno leaders.
“If this is true, why bring it up now during this by-election?” he asked reporters after a campaign walk-about in Penanti.
Koh had said that Anwar, who was also deputy prime minister at the time, had telephoned him to tell him to let BFSB renegotiate its repayment scheme.
BFSB, which had bought Penang Shipbuilding Corporation Sdn Bhd (PSC) from Penang Development Corporation in 1992 for RM29 million, had defaulted in his payment by RM9 million.
Anwar said his relations with Koh had been “civil” before this.
Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is also the PDC chairman, said today Koh should not try to blame Anwar for the RM9 million loss.
He said Koh should show proof of his allegation that Anwar had telephoned him to tell him to let BFSB renegotiate its repayment scheme.
“To date, RM 9 million has still not being paid and BFSB has since being wound up. Most disturbing is that PSC has now been sold, and the land in Pulau Jerejak owned by another company,” Lim said.
He said Anwar’s then private secretary, Anuar Shaari, had written to the PDC to ask it to “study and report back” on the proposal by BFSB to settle its outstanding payments.
“There was no instruction by Anwar to extend the payment period by another five years,” Lim added.
