By DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, on July 25:
Challenge to Lee San Choon to cut the cockerel’s head to back his statement in Malayan Thun Pao that 1971 five years ago I had asked to be a Minister
MCA President, Datuk Lee San Choon, gave a most unusual interview in Malayan Thun Pao today. He was clearly trying to raise his own personal importance by trying to put others in a poor light.
I will normally ignore such interviews, as this is Lee San Choon’s battle for political survival, which has nothing to do with me. As far as I am concerned, the people of Malaysia in the 1978 general elections have spoken very clearly and loudly what they think of Lee San Choon.
However, I cannot ignore one Portion in the interview, which said:
“He (Lee San Choon) referred to the MCA-DAP talks five years ago about DAP joining the MCA, and also about the merger with Gerakan.
“He said : Five years ago, I was then only a Deputy Minister. But in the Party, I was Deputy President under Tun Tan Siew Sin.
“In the talks with the DAP, Lim Kit Siang asked that he himself and Goh Hock Guan should enter the Cabinet. But at that time, only one of them could be a Minister, and not both. I had said at that time that as I was only a Deputy Minister, I was prepared to give way to make sacrifices and bring this about.
“He said: Subsequently, I was rapped by Tun Tan Siew Sin because of this.”
I am not interested in Datuk Lee San Choon’s attempt to present himself as a great political leader, who is prepared to make personal sacrifices. His colleagues in the MCA at present, and his former colleagues outside the MCA, know better whether Lee San Choon is the great political leader who has no fear to make personal sacrifices better than I do. Tan Sri Lee Siok Yew, I am sure, would have a very different story to tell about qualities of Lee San Choon.
What I am interested at present is to deplore Lee San Choon for telling a pack of lies. I had never been involved in the so-called MCA-DAP talks for DAP joining the MCA (which is most laughable when MCA represents nobody), nor had I ever asked for Ministerial posts.
I challenge Datuk Lee San Choon to but the cockerel’s head to back up his own statement, that I had asked to be a Minister as a pre-condition for the DAP joining the MCA, and I challenge him to give the details, as to when and to whom I made the request whether it is to Lee San Choon or to Tun Tan Siew Sin.
I hope Datuk Lee San Choon will not again go into hiding when faced with a specific DAP challenge.