Press Conference Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at Hotel South East Asia, Kuala Lumpur, after the Official Opening ceremony of the DAP 1984 National Delegates Conference on Sunday, 15.7.1984 at 11 a.m.
DAP National Save Bukit China Committee would hold an emergency meeting in Kuala Lumpur tonight to discuss the Malacca Chief Minister’s reiteration of the State Government’s plan to level and develop Bukit China
The Malacca Chief Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahim Thamby Cik, has yesterday reiterated publicity the Malacca State Government’s plan to level and develop Bukit China when asked by the press after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting yesterday.
The Malacca State Government has two MCA State Executive Councillors, Datuk Lee Cheng York of the Neo Yee Pan camp and Lim Soo Kiang of the Tan Koon Swan camp. Both of them must answer to all Malaysians, in particular to the Chinese in Malacca and Malaysia, why they agreed to the government plan to level and develop Bukit China.
What I find is most disgusting is that while Malacca Chief Minister had made plain in his decision to level and develop Bukit China, beginning with the State Government’s letter of intent to Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, the trustees of Bukit China, on Oct.5, 1983 to level and develop Bukit China, which he confirmed in the Malacca State Assembly in April 1984, and subsequently in unofficial comments to the press declaring that the question now is not whether to develop, but how to develop, there were people, led by the Tan Koon Swan MCA faction in Malacca, the most prominent of whom was Chan Teck Chan and Ng Peng Huay, who sought to confuse and mislead the Chinese in Malacca and Malaysia.
They claim that the Chief Minister had given an assurance that the State Government would respect the wishes of the Chinese community in Malacca whether to develop Bukit China, and started a campaign to persuade the Malacca Chinese to agree to the government’s plan to develop Bukit China.
I do not know why Chan Teck Chan and Ng Peng Huay are prepared to become the ‘front men’ of Datuk Abdul Rahim Thamby Cik to fulfil the ‘Bukit China dream’ to destroy cultural roots and turn Bukit China into a ‘gold mine’, but they should have the courage to play their ‘front men’ role for the Malacca Chief Minister openly and publicly instead of trying to mislead and confuse the people.
With Datuk Abdul Rahim’s reiteration that the State Government’s plan to level and develop Bukit China has never altered, it is time for all organisations and individuals who oppose the destruction of the 500-year-old historic, religious and cultural site to make their stand clear.
At this period, it is even important for the people to see who are the people who are playing the role of pretending to champion the cause of Bukit China, but who are in fact working close with the Malacca Chief Minister to help him achieve his objective of government levelling & development of Bukit China.
The DAP National Save Bukit China Committee will hold an emergency meeting in Kuala Lumpur tonight to discuss the latest development.