Adjournment Speech by DAP Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Ra’ayat on Friday, 14th January 1972
Use of school building for Alliance meetings
On 12th December 1971, the Sungai Way direct Alliance membership Party held a political meeting at the Sungai Way National-type (Chinese) primary school.
According to the press reports after the meeting, among those who were invited and attended were Alliance politicians such as Senator Tan Sr. T.H.Tan, Raja Nong Chik, the Sungai Way MCA Branch Chairman, the Chairman of the Board of Management of the school, and even the school’s headmaster himself.
The guest speaker was Inche Hussein Onn, who was there however, not as the Minister of Education, but in his political capacity as Secretary-General of the Alliance Party.
Both Tan Sri T.H.Tan and Raja Nong Chik also spoke at this meeting.
What I want to know is under what conditions can school premises be used by political parties for their political meetings.
If the DAP wishes to hold a political meeting in Sungei Way at the Sungei Way National-type (Chinese) primary school, and if we write to the school’s headmaster, will the Ministry of Education and the school authorities give us the same facilities as was granted to the Alliance party?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hope there would not be double standards in such cases, where the Alliance can freely make use if school premises, which are in fact public premises, for their partisan purposes, while opposition parties are denied these facilities.
Incidentally, in Sungai Way, we know there is no shortage of premises for such an Alliance meeting such as the MCA premises of even the Sungei Way council assembly hall.
I therefore ask the Minister to let the House know the rules and conditions governing the use of school premises for political parties.