by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, in Parliament House on Thursday, 25.7.1985:
Ten DAP MPs cable appeal to Pardons Board to commute death sentence of Sim Kie Chon
On behalf of ten Dap Mps, I have sent and urgent cable to the Pardons Board appealing for its review and commutation of the death sentence of Sim Kie Chon, 28, who was convicted and sentenced to death under the Internal Security Act with possession of a firearm for which he had no license. He was convicted by the High Court on 14 June 1983, and the federal court dismissed his appeal on 1983.
If not for the mandatory death penalty provided for under the Internal Security Act, Sim would not have been condemned to death as there was no evidence on record before the court that he was involved in any subversive or organized violence.
Sim was to have been hanged on July 3, 1985, but a day earlier on July 2, he obtained a saty of execution from Mr. Justice Harum ……. The sentence of his suit against the Pardons Board, the superintendent of prison and the government. On 16 July, the government successfully applied in the High court to strike out the unit and to revoke the stay of execution. The Supreme Court heard the appeal on Monday, July 22, and discussed the appeal the next day.
The appeal of the ten DAP MPs to the Pardons Board reads as follows:
“Pardons Board Malaysia
c/o Pejabat Perdana Mentari
Jalan Dato Onn
Kuala Lumpur
ON BEHALF OF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING
TEN CONSTITUENCIES, NAMELY KOTA MELAKA, SEREMBAN,
KUALA LUMPUR BANDAR, SUNGAI BESI,KEPONG, JELUTONG,
BUKIT BENDERA,SANDAKAN, KUCHING AND SIBU, I HAVE BEEN
DIRECTED TO URGENTLY APPEAL TO PARDONS BOARD MALAYSIA
TO REVIEW AND COMMUTE THE DEATH SENTENCE OF SIM KIE CHON
WHO WAS CONVICTED AND SENTENCED TO DEATH UNDER
INTERNAL SECURITY ACT FOR UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS.
AS SIM WAS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY SUBVERSIVE OR ORGANISED VIOLENCE,
SIM SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE DEATH PENALTY IF NOT FOR THE MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE PROVIDED BY ISA. PARDONS BOARDS
SHOULD TEMPER THE HARSHNESS AND BRUTALITY OF THE
MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY UNDER THE ISA BY EXERCISING ITS
PREROGATIVE OF MERCY BY COMMUTING SIM’S DEATH SENTENCE.
FURTHERMORE, THE COMMUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY OF FORMER
CABINET MINISTER MOCHTAR HASHIM, WHO WAS CONVICTED OF DISCHARGING
A FIREARM AND KILLING FORMER NEGRI SEMBILAN STATE ASSEMBLY
SPEAKER SHOULD BE FOLLOWED TO PRESERVE THE CONFIDENCE OF
THE PEOPLE ON THE IMPARTIALITY AND REPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE OF EQUALITY OF ALL PERSONS BEFORE THE LAW ON THE
PART OF THE PARDONS BOARD. FINALLY, WE ALSO APPEAL FOR SIM’S COMMUTATION ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS.
LIM KIT SIANG
PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION LEADER
DAP SECRETARY GENERAL
I will also be moving a motion to adjourn the Dewan Rakyat tomorrow to discuss the case of
Sim Kie Chon as a definite matter of public importance, for at stake is not only the life of one
person, but also the public confidence in the system of law and the impartiality of the Pardons Board.
Sim’s defendant counsel, Karam Singh, complained that although he was entitled to six weeks’
period to file his appeal records, he was only given two days. This is a very serious complaint,
especially as the life of a human being is concerned.
I hope Barisan Nasional Mps would rise above party politics, and support the motion for Parliament
to debate this matter on humanitarian grounds.
MCA, Gerakan and MIC Ministers and MPs let down the people in the recent Parliamentary meeting.
The MCA, Gerakan and MIC Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and MPs
have again let down the people in the recent Parliamentary meeting which ended yesterday.
When I moved a motion on the injustices and inequalities of the New Economic Policy,
which was debated yesterday, not a single MCA, Gerakan or MIC Minister or MP dare to
stand up and utter a word that the New Economic Policy had created frustrations and injustices. The impression they give UMNO Ministers and MPs was that the DAP Mps are talking ‘utter rubbish’!
After my motion was defeated, and Parliament adjourned, one MCA MP met me and told me that
what I had said about the NEP injustices and inequalities, and how they were causing national disunity, was very correct and very good. I told him point-blank that it was no use praising me outside the
House, when he had no courage or conviction to speak up inside the House what he felt in his heart.
This is the trouble with all the MCA, Gerakan and MCA Ministers and MPs. They dare not speak up
for the people for fear that they would displease the UMNO masters, and therefore spoil their
chances of political advancement.
Some MCA and Gerakan MPs are even worse. They do not only keep quiet in the House, privately agreeing with what the DAP MPs had to say, but openly instigate UMNO MPs to attack the DAP for being ‘chauvinistic’ and ‘racialistic’ for raising the people’s grievances and problems.
These MCA and Gerakan MPs would run to the UMNO and say that the DAP must be condemned for ‘raising sensitive issues’. One such MP is the Gerakan MP for Tanjong, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon!
I am thoroughly disgusted with the record and performance of MCA, Gerakan and MIC Ministers and MPs, especially in the recent Parliament. I dare say that the primary reason why the Malaysian Chinese
are finding themselves in a great dilemma, with unprecedented erosion of their political, economic, educational, cultural and religious rights, is because of the MCA and Gerakan Ministers and MPs whose attitude is what would preserve their position rather than what is good for the people and country.
The MCA power struggle is a very good example. I remember that one of the issues the Tan Koon Swan Moa faction used against the Neo Yee Pan faction was that the Neo Yee Pan group had betrayed the Chinese rights for the MCA Ministers dare not speak up for the legitimate rights and aspirations of
the Malaysians Chinese. The Tan Koon Swan MCA faction presented itself as the MCA faction which could safeguard Chinese rights, dignity and self-respect.
But what has happened? The Tan Koon Swan MCA faction is actively egging on the UMNO to
interfere in the MCA power struggle, to dislodge Neo Yee Pan, to the extent that the Tan Koon Swan faction are pushing the line that the only the UMNO leaders could succeed in their effort to push up the share market, and generate an economic upturn, was for Neo Yee Pan to relinquish his party and Cabinet post.
When the future MCA leader from the Tan Koon Swan faction has to depend on the UMNO for his leadership post, would he be able to stand up to the UMNO in the event of UMNO-MCA conflict
over crucial issues of national and far-reaching importance?