by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Friday, 18th May 1990:
Dr. Kang Chin Seng has become the ‘rat running across the street’ in the Gerakan as he is primarily responsible for the Lim Keng Yaik fiasco over the lies about the DAO-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta
The Director of Gerakan Publicity Bureau and Political Secretary to the Minister for Primary Industries, Dr. Kang Chin Seng, gave me 48 hours to produce a Gerakan member to publicly produce proof that ‘Lim Keng Yaik’ is the most corrupt Minister in Malaysian and uses his overseas trips to deposit his corruption money in unnumbered Swiss bank accounts’. (China Press 17/5/90 p. 7)
It is not only the MCA which has a ‘rat running across the street’. In the Gerakan, there is also a ‘rat running across the street’, and Dr. Kang Chin Seng is the ‘rat running across the street’ in the Gerakan!
This is because national, state and local Gerakan leaders, as well as the ordinary members, are blaming and condemning Dr. Kang for being primarily responsible for the Lim Keng Yaik fiasco for the lies about the DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta.
In concocting the lies about the secret DAP-PAS meeting in Jakarta, Dr. Kang thought he had struck ‘political gold’ which would serve several political and personal objectives:
• produce a weapon to destroy Gerakan’s most feared political opposition, the DAP;
• produce a weapon for UMNO Baru to destroy PAS;
• raise his own political stocks in the eyes of both the Gerakan and UMNO Baru leaders, and thus strengthen his own claim to be given a good parliamentary seat in the next general elections.
Sudden collapse of moral leadership of Keng Yaik in Gerakan and the country
Instead, the lies about the secret DAP-PAS meeting in Jakarta have led to the sudden collapse of the moral leadership of Dr. Lim Keng Yaik in the Gerakan, as well as in the country, and brought shame to the Gerakan leaders and rank-and-file for they do not know where to hide their face when members of the public question them as to how their party President could tell such lies.
It must be the first time in Malaysian history where a political leader has been publicly called ‘an inveterate, compulsive and incorrigible liar’, with posters calling him a liar put up all over the country, and yet who dare not institute legal action for slander, libel and defamation to clear his name and reputation.
What is unthinkable is that Dr. Kang could bamboozle the Gerakan President and the Gerakan brain-trust comprising such intellectuals like the Deputy President, Kerk Choo Ting, and the Gerakan Youth Leader, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, to publicly use the Jakarta lies against the DAP.
In the early days, Dr, Kang advised Keng Yaik to interest the UMNO leaders to adopt the story of the DAP-PAS secret meeting in Jakarta, so that the Gerakan could distribute the responsibility and blame for the lies about the Jarkata meeting to more political parties in the Barisan Nasional.
Only the UMNO Youth leader and Sports Minister, Datuk Najib Tun Razak, was rash enough to get involved at first, but he was intelligent, enough to pull out before he got too deeply involved. After that, the UMNO through its Secretary-General, Mohamd Rahmat, declared that UMNO did not want to get involved with the Jakarta lies, followed by the MCA.
Dr. Kang is treated by Gerakan leaders and members as if suffering from some form of political A.I.Ds
This is why Dr. Kang is virtually attacking me every day, hoping to re-establish his credibility in the Gerakan. At the moment, Dr. Kang is being treated by the other Gerakan leaders and members as if he is suffering from some form of political A.I.D.s. If they are infected with such political A.I.D.s, as in the Jakarta lies concocted by Dr. Kang, they lose their political ‘auto-immune system’ and lose their political defence mechanism. This explains Keng Yaik’s behaviour, where he could not defend himself by taking legal action when accused of being an ‘inveterate, compulsive and incorrigible liar.’
Let me tell Dr. Kang that if his own leaders and members are now treating him as if he is a carrier of some form of political A.I.D.s., I am not going to give him any attention or notice at all.
Dr. Kang can issue any amount of statements a day attacking me, but I am not going to give him any attention, and I am also asking all DAP leaders at all levels to ignore the existence of Dr. Kang on the political scene.
When they see any newspaper report of any statement or comment by Dr. Kang, just skip it and ignore it, unless there are special reasons to respond.
If Gerakan wants to make any political point, they better do so through its President or other Gerakan leaders.
I’ll respond to Keng Yaik’s latest challenge tomorrow
I presume that the 48 hour challenge to me issued by Dr. Kang is made with the authority of Dr. Lim Keng Yaik. I have said I will not respond to Dr. Kang at all, but if the challenge emanates from Keng Yaik, I will respond.
I will give Keng Yaik 24 hours to deny that the 48-hour challenge made by Dr. Kang has his authority. If there is no denial, then I’ll proceed to respond to Keng Yaik’s latest challenge tomorrow, on the basis that it was a challenge from Keng Yaik himself.