Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at the Rawang DAP Branch 19th Anniversary dinner held at Rawang on Saturday, 21.12.1985 at 8 pm
Lim Kit Siang understands that MCA members would be seeking court injunctions to restrain the MCA State Liaison Committee of Perak, Selangor, Federal Territory and Malacca from operating as they are unlawful and illegal
On 21st November, 1985, as part of the Tan Koon Swan MCA faction’s MCA election manifesto, Tan Koon Swan announced his programme for revitalisisation for the MCA and the Malaysian Community.
The Tan Koon Swan MCA faction has won the MCA Party elections on Nov. 24 with a landslide victory, but reading the Tan Koon Swan faction’s 10-Point Declaration and 10-Point Programme, they sound so hollow and empty.
The first declaration was ‘Towards a Democratic Party’, pledging that the MCA must be a more democratic, more open and more liberal party.
The new MCA leadership has forgotten all its promises, for it is now operating in utter disregard of even the Party Constitution itself. I have pointed out that the various State Liaison Committee appointed by the new MCA leadership are unlawful as they contravene the MCA Party Constitution.
I understand that some MCA members, who are very concerned that the Party Constitution should remain the supreme law for the Party, would be seeking court injunctions to restrain the MCA State Liaison Committees in the Federal Territory (which appointed two Deputy State Chairmen and 57 members when the MCA Constitution did not provide for Deputy State Chairman and only some 12 State Committee members for the Federal Territory), Perak, Selangor and Malacca from operating.
If this is true, then the MCA new leadership would be exposed as people who have no respect for their own Party Constitution, which they had defended as a sacred document in their power struggle against Neo Yee Pan, who was accused of trampling on the party constitution.
Call on MCA to issue a full report on the Pan El crisis to the Malaysian Chinese
The second fo the Tan Koon Swan 10-point declaration spoke of a ‘responsible collective leadership’ which would be collectively responsible and responsive to the Malaysian Chinese community.
It this is so, then the new MCA leadership should issue a full report on the Pan El crisis, which had caused such great harm to the Malaysian stock market and economy, and caused untold losses to the small investors.
As Tan Koon Swan is the main actor in the Pan El crisis, is the MCA prepared to collectively accept responsibility for Tan Koon Swan’s role in the Pan El crisis, and issue a full report on the crisis to the Malaysian Chinese? O ris Tan Koon Swan’s Pan El crisis, like the BMF scandal, something which could not be fully disclosed to the people?
The new MCA leadership should know that the small investors are very angry that they have been made the victims of the stock market collapse because of the Pan El crisis, when Tan Koon Swan’s three companies of Grand United, Supreme and Everpeace are protected by being suspended from the stock exchange.
Is the MCA prepared to collectively accept responsibility for the $10.8 billion losses suffered by the total Malaysian stock capitalisaiton as a result of the three-day suspension of the stock exchange because of the Pan El crisis?
How could MCA expect ‘effective representation’ when Tan Koon Swan dare not enter the Cabinet?
The third declaration was ‘towards effective government representation’ in the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council’ the Cabinet, State Excos and local councils so that MCA could play a more active and meaningful role.
How could the new MCA leadership expect to play any effective role in Government when the new MCA President, Tan Koon Swan, dare not enter the cabinet himself.
The Malaysian Chinese were given to understand at first that Tan Koon Swan did not want to enter the Cabinet because he wanted to devote time to build up the Party.
But now the people could see that Tan Koon Swan had in fact no time for the MCA, as he was spending virtually all his time on the Pan El crisis, and trying to salvage his own empire of Grand United, Supreme and Everpeace, including trying to get UNICO to help him
It is clearly improper for Tan Koon Swan to be in the Malaysian Cabinet, when he was being investigated by the Singapore authorities for his role in the Pan El crisis. In fact, Tan Koon Swan wold bring Malaysia into national shame and dishonour if he is a Cabinet Minister who had to appear before the Monetary Authority of Singapore to face cross-examination and questioning, as happened just before the MCA Central Executive Committee meeting on 7th December 1985.
The fact that it took Tan Koon Swan almost one month before he dare to submit his list of MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers to the
Prime Minister shows how incapable and ineffective is the MCA new leadership, rather than the promise of ‘more effective representation’ in all levels of government.
One of the new MCA Ministers is supposed to be Datuk Chan Siang Sun, the Deputy Minister with the longest serving record in Malaysian history. If Datuk Chan is so competent and capable as a Minster, then he would not be holding the record of the longest-serving Deputy Minister. In fact, I think Datuk Chan would have set a record of the longest-serving Deputy Minister which could not be broken by anyone in the future.
I will discuss the other seven declarations of Tan Koon Swan’s manifesto, which are as empty and hollow as the first three.