Press Conference Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Saturday, 5th May 1990 at 11 a.m.
Every Malaysian can call Keng Yaik a liar without fear of being sued
Yesterday, I challenged the Gerakan President, Datuk Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, to apologise for his lie about the DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta, or announce his intention to sue me for calling him “an inveterate, compulsive and incorrigible liar”, or I will announce the next “serious consequence” he would have to face for such a lie.
Keng Yaik has reiterated that he was not going to sue me for calling him an “inveterate, compulsive and incorrigible liar” on the ground that he would not “dance to my tune”.
If this is what he has decided to do, so be it. It is only left for me to spell out the consequences he would have to face for his decision.
Advance Notice to allow Keng Yaik to apply for court injunction to restrain DAP from printing and putting up posters countrywide with words:”Keng Yaik – You Are A Liar!”
The DAP will print and put up posters throughout the country, and in particular in the Gerakan Parliamentary and State Assembly constituencies, declaring: “ Keng Yaik – You Are A Liar!”.
The DAP does not carry put anonymous attacks and is always fully prepared to face the consequences of our action.
I am making this advance announcement so that Keng Yaik could reconsider his decision not to sue me for calling him a liar. He should consider whether he should not institute legal proceedings to seek a court injunction to restrain the DAP from publishing and putting up posted throughout the country with the words:” Keng Yaik – You Are A Liar!”
let me again tell Keng Yaik that he could always ask his lawyers to serve any legal proceedings he want to institute against me, including an application to the court for an injunction to restrain the DAP from printing and putting up posters with me words: “ Keng Yaik – You Are A Liar!” by serving on the DAP MP for Jelutong, Karpal Singh, who will act as my lawyer in any defamation suit Keng Yaik wants to initiate.
I want to ask Keng Yaik why he is so frightened of clearing his name and reputation after having been maligned by me by filling a suit of slander and defamation against me , especially as he claims that he has incontrovertible evidence in the person of the Gerakan ‘Star Witness”, Yusop Mohamed Yusop, who could tell over ten lies in one short press conference.
Unless Keng Yaik himself does not believe Yusop Mohamad Yusop, he should be very eager to put Yusop Mohamas Yusop in the withness-box in court to tell the whole nation of the DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta.
Keng Yaik dare not file a defamation suit where Yusop Mohamed Yusop would have to go into the witness box, for the simple reason that Keng Yaik knows that what Yusof had said were just a pack of lies.
In fact, Yusop had proved a greater liar than Keng Yaik. Yusop told more than ten lies in one short press conference in one day, while Keng Yaik took ten days to tell more than ten lies! This is why Keng Yaik is so afraid of Yusop and dare not do anything which will end up with Yusop in the witness box to be cross-examined by Karpal Singh. Of course, Keng Yaik himself is equally frightened of being cross-examined by Karpal Singh in any such defamation suit, for both Yusop and Keng Yaik would be torn to pieces for the mountain of lies they had told.
It was reported in one press that Keng Yaik met his political advisers and lawyers yesterday. I am sure that Keng Yaik, his advisers and lawyers would have considered another option, which is to institute legal proceedings not for the purpose of clearing his name and proving that he is not a liar, but to temporarily stop my onslaught on him. The very fact that he dare not take this option shows that Keng Yaik fully realizes that he is standing on absolutely on ground whatsoever with regard to his allegation of
DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta.
Another ‘serious consequence’ for Keng Yaik is that henceforth, anyone of the 17 million Malaysians can openly and publicly call Keng Yaik a liar without fear of being sued for defamation. This is because of Keng Yaik should sue anyone for calling him a liar, the person concerned can just quote me a authority, and I offer to be the witness to any such defamation suit to establish that Keng Yaik is a liar!
I will spell out other ‘serious consequences’ to Keng Yaik for his outrageous lie about the secret DAP-PAS meeting in Jakarta in the next 72 hours.
Kit Siang prepared to meet Fadzil Noor and Haji Hadi Awang as he was prepared to meet Dr. Mahathir, Ghafar Baba, Ling Liong Sik, Lim Keng Yaik and Samy Vellu
In his press statement yesterday, Keng Yaik called on Malaysians to ‘continue keeping a watchful eye on unscrupulous DAP leaders’, suggesting that if there is any meeting between DAP leaders and PAS leaders, it would be something dishonourable or heinous.
If this is the case, why did Keng Yaik sleep on the same bed with the PAS leaders when PAS was in the Barisan Nasional in the 1970s? Furthermore, why are the Gerakan Barisan in the National Economic Consultative Council (NECC) when PAS also have representatives in it? If having meetings with PAS leaders is so dishounourable and heinous, and the PAS leaders are so ‘untouchable’, then Gerakan should pull out all its representatives from the NECC unless PAS is removed from it!
Clearly, Keng Yaik is trying to wriggle out of the lies he had told about the DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta. Let him first admit and apologise openly that he has told lies about the secret DAP-PAS meeting in Jakarta, before he moves to another issue.
The issue at hand is the so-called DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta, and not whether the DAP and PAS leaders should or should not meet.
Let me state here that I am prepared to meet with PAS leaders like Fadzil Moor and Haji Hadi Awang, in the same way that I had been prepared to meet with Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, Ghafar Baba, Ling Liong Sik, Lim Keng Yaik and Samy Vellu, to discuss the political situation in the country or the problems of the people.
To meet is not to betray. If to meet is to betray, who is doing the betraying, as both cannot be mutually betraying to one another.
When I met Mahathir, Ghafar, Liong Sik , Keng Yaik and Samy Vellu, am I betraying my principles and beliefs to them, or theirs to me? Similarly, if DAP and PAS leaders meet, does it mean that DAP leaders must be betraying our political principles to PAS, or PAS leaders must be betraying their political principles to DAP?
When American President, George Rush meets with Soviet leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev, is Bush betraying the United States or Gorbachev betraying the Soviet Union? When Nixon met Mao Tse Tung for the first time, was Nixon betraying the United States or Mao betraying the People’s Republic of China?
When during the Japanese invasion of China, Mao and Chiang Kai Shek met, was Mao betraying the Chinese Communist Party or Chiang Kai Shek betraying the Kuomintang?
It is very sad that Malaysian political leaders in the Government have such shallow thinking and narrow minds.
If I meet Fadzil Noor and Hadi Awang, for instance, I would like them to understand why the DAP is unalterably opposed to the establishment of an Islamic State, and why it is impossible to establish an Islamic State in Malaysia. I would want them to hear my views that no Islamic state can be established in Malaysia without the agreement and support of the Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans and all the other non-Muslims, and that such agreement and support from the other races and religious will not be forthcoming. In fact, even the majority of the Malays do not support an Islamic State concept.
It is because of DAP’s clear and unequivocal stand that there can be no Islamic State in Malaysia that in the last general elections, the DAP refused to be part of an United Opposition Front and to be party to an Opposition Manifesto.
I want to make it clear however that up to now, the DAP has had no meeting, relationship or understanding with PAS.
I am not surprised that the MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, dared not accept my challenge issued to him and Keng Yaik for a series of public debated on their allegations that the DAP want to create an Islamic State by co-operating with PAS.
They know there is no basis to their allegations. In fact, in Malaysia today, the DAP is the only political party, based on its political stand as well as its political record, which will unswervingly oppose the Islamic State concept. MCA and Gerakan have no stand on their own, for they will do what UMNO bids them. This is why the MCA fully supported the Selangor Islamic Law Administration Enactment.