Press Conference Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary –General, MP for Tanjong and Assemblyman for kampong Kolam, Lim Kit Siang, in Malacca on Wednesday, August 13, 1986
Bank Negara’s lifting of the four-day freeze of assets of top MCA leaders involved in Co-operative raises the whether Bank Negara could independently carry out investigations into the 23 deposit-taking co-operative without political interference
Bank Negara’s lifting of the four-day freeze of assets of top MCA leaders, including MCA President Tan Koon Swan, Deputy MCA Minister, Ng Cheng Kiat and MCA Parliamentary Secretary Teng Gaik Kwan, raises the serious question whether Bank Negara could independently carry out investigations into the 23 deposit-taking co-operative without political interference.
The Ahmad Nordin Inquiry Committee into the $ 2.5 billion BMF scandal had shown clearly that if there had been no political interference which blocked the Bank Negara from carrying out independent investigations and follow-up actions, the country would not have to bear such heavy losses.
Having happened once, I for one have no confidence that the Bank Negara would have the independence and impartiality to carry out its investigations into the 23 deposit-taking co-operative without political interference.
The swift lifting of the freeze of assets on top MCA leaders affected by the original Bank Negara order has reinforced my doubts and suspicious, which I believe is shared by all thinking and concerned Malaysians.
The freeze assets order were issued last Friday, to take effect on August 15, which means that no assets of any co-operative director had been frozen as yet. If Bank Negara is to lift the freeze order so fast, before even any assets were actually frozen, why was the order issued in the first place?
Having lifted the freeze on the assets of the MCA leaders who are also directory of the co-operatives under investigation, Bank Negara and the Finance Ministry has to assume full responsibility for the viability and soundness of the co-operatives concerned. If anything amiss should take place in these co-operatives, then the depositors and members will have the rights to demand full restitution of their losses by the Government.
Welcome Kee Yong Wee’s stand on UKM CCC controversy, but why are MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers silent on the issue
MCA Youth Leader, Kee Yong Wee, said yesterday that MCA Youth support the UKM students who oppose the arbitrary dissolution of the UKM Chinese Community Committee (CCC).
Kee Yong Wee’s stand is commendable and welcome, but the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers silent on this issue, and doing to raise this matter in the Cabinet?
The people find that MCA leaders become ‘dumb and deaf’ when they become Ministers or Deputy Ministers, but once they ceased to be Ministers or Deputy Ministers either because they have been sacked or defeated in elections, they suddenly recover their powers if speech and hearing.
What Kee Yong Wee, who is no mere Deputy Minister, say about the UKM CCC issue is not important, as what is more important is what the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers doing about it. Why it is the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers dare not assure the People, in particular the five million Malaysian Chinese, that they will get the UKM CCC re-established without any delay?
Dr. Mahathir should be statesmanlike to heal and not aggravate the election rift
T endorse the call the Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) secretary-general, Fuad Hassan that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, to heal the wounds of the general elections, especially the problem or racial polarization, and not to aggravate them.
This is the task which is beholden on all political leaders, regardless of party or race, to work together for the national good.
This is why immediately after the August 3 election results, I announced my invention to meet Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir to discuss the general elections results.
I have formally asked for an appointment with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, but I have not received word from the Prime Minister’s Office whether he wants to meet me. I do not know whether the unprecedented defeat of the Barisan Nasional to the DAP in the urban areas has made him reluctant to meet me.
Be that as it may, I am always ready to meet the Prime Minister.
It is important that Ministers should not go on a witch-hunt about the general elections creating a serious problem of racial polarization. Newly-appointed Information Minister, Tunku Rithaudeen, for issuance was reported as saying that chauvinism had reared its ugly head in the elections resulting in the problem of racial polarization.
National leaders, whether in Government or Opposition, should not play elections game anymore, as the elections are over. We should recognize the fact that the 1986 general elections did not create the problem of racial polarization, but highlighted the gravity of the problem.
The 29 years of Barisan Nasional policies are the greatest cause of racial polarization, and if we want to resolve the problem of racial polarization, the country must take a new deep and hard look at the nation-building policies of the Barisan Nasional.