by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling jaya, on Monday, 21st May 1990:
Nobody expects Kim Sai to admit that his decision not to challenge Liong Sik for the MCA Presidency is on the directive of Dr. Mahathir Mohamed
In Johore Baru on Saturday, MCA Deputy President, Datuk Lee Kim Sai, denied that his decision not to challenge Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik for the MCA Presidency is the result of the intervention of the Prime Minister and UMNO Baru President, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed.
Nobody expects Kim Sai to admit that his decision not to challenge Liong Sik is on the directive of Dr. Mahathir, for this will plunge the stocks of the MCA to an even lower ebb!
But can Kim Sai explain why he withdrew from the challenge to contest against Liong Sik, when he had already authorised his lieutenants and forces to declare open war against Liong Sik.
One day before he announced his withdrawal of his challenge to Liong Sik, the Kim Sai camp had already unfurled the platform on which Kim Sai would challenge Liong Sik. As Kim Sai’s ‘mentor’, Ng Mook Leong declared publicly, the battle between Liong Sik and Kim Sai would be a battle between ‘self-interest’ and ‘justice’!
Will Kim Sai now admit that he has abandoned the cause of ‘justice’ and joined the side of ‘self-interest’ in his last-minute withdrawal of his challenge to Liong Sik?
No wonder, to date, only three persons have openly praised Kim Sai for withdrawing from the contest against Liong Sik, and they are the MCA National Treasurer, Datuk William Chek, the MCA National
Youth Leader, Datuk Yap Pian Hon and the MCA Perak Chairman, Chan Kit Chee – all Liong Sik ‘die-hards’ who must be very happy that the forces of ‘justice’ in MCA have surrendered so swiftly to the forces of ‘self-interest’!
Chinese newspapers trying to provoke a Ling-Lee battle?
Another noteworthy feature of the aborted Ling-Lee fight for the MCA President’s post, is the MCA ‘official version’ that the Chinese newspapers were the ‘bad boys’ for they were responsible for the Ling-Lee news in the past few weeks in trying to provoke a Ling¬-Lee battle. This is the first time in Malaysian political history where a party leadership is blaming the newspapers for top leadership differences and power struggle!
This is what a MCA newspaper said on 18th May:
“For a while the nation was abuzz with rumours that Datuk Lee Kim Sai, the MCA Deputy President, would contest against Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik for the No.1 party position.
“Speculation persisted even though Datuk Lee had said on several occasions that he had no such intention. There was actually no reason for such a contest which could have serious repercussions on the party and the community.
“Unfortunately, the pass media, the Chinese newspapers in particular, had tried to fan the issue and to push the two leaders into a fight, an event which neither the members nor the community would like it to take place.”
If this new MCA authorised version of the events in the MCA in the past two months is right, then it must be the Chinese news¬papers which invented the story about Wong Mook Leong declaring that the Ling-Lee fight is a fight between ‘self-interest’ and ‘justice’!
What is Wang Choon Wing’s real role?
It is open secret that there is a lot of betrayal and counter-betrayal in the MCA, where finally what counts is ‘self-¬interest’ and not ‘justice’.
Discerning observers of the MCA will notice that the Lee Kim Sai faction is now putting the blame on former MCA National Orga¬nising Secretary, Wang Choon Wing, for changing sides in the Ling-Lee battle in the last minute.
The Lee Kim Sai faction is very angry with Choon Wing for they said that it was Wang Choon Wing who instigated Kim Sai in the first place to challenge Liong Sik for the MCA Presidency, and laid down the groundwork for the challenge. However, in the last minute, with one phone call from Liong Sik, Wang Choon Wing defected to Ling’s side.
Wang’s last-minute defection, together with the directive by Dr. Mahathir, resulted in Kim Sai’s surprise announcement last Wednesday that he would not contest against Liong Sik for the MCA President’s post.
The question that Kim Sai’s faction is posing is, what caused Choon Wing to change sides with one telephone call?