Challenge to Keng Yaik to a public debate on Gerakan allegation that DAP wants to establish an Islamic State still stands

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 8th August 1990:

Challenge to Keng Yaik to a public debate on Gerakan allegation that DAP wants to establish an Islamic State still stands

My statement yesterday that the Gerakan leadership is trying to revive the Islamic State attack on the DAP has now been confirmed by the press conference statement given by the Director of Gerakan Publicity Bureau, Dr. Kang Chin Seng, in Penanag yesterday.

It is now clear that the Gerakan leadership has embarked on a second round of attack on the DAP on the Islamic State issue.

Its first round of attack on the DAP on the Islamic State in April this year was utterly discredited when the Gerakan President, Datuk Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, made the wild and baseless allegation about the so-called DAP-PAS secret talks in Jakarta.

Keng Yaik became such a laughing stock in Malaysia, with posters of ‘Keng Yaik, You Are A Liar’ in all the Gerakan constituen¬cies, that for four months; he dared not return to the lie about the DAP wanting to create an Islamic State by co-operating with PAS.

At that time, everybody in Gerakan treated the Director of Gerakan Publicity Bureau, Dr. Kang Chin Seng, as a ‘rat across the street’, for he was chiefly responsible for concocting the lie about the secret Jakarta talks between DAP and PAS, resulting in Keng Yaik becoming a ‘rat across the street’ throughout the country. This is also why during the past four months, Dr. Kang went into hiding, and nothing was heard from him.

Now, suddenly, Dr. Kang is again being heard again. Dr. Kang must have convinced the Gerakan leadership that he could ‘with victory redeem his sins’ and successfully carry out a second round of attack on the DAP on the Islamic State issue.

It is also very apparent that this time Keng Yaik is very wary of Dr. Kang’s ability and very fearful of becoming a ‘rat across the street’ a second time, and this is why he left it to Dr. Kang to hold the press conference about a PAS leaflet in the Kijal by-elec¬tion.

The short answer to the latest hullaballo by Dr. Kang is that it is a PAS leaftlet, and not a DAP or even Semangat 46 leaflet! Desperate people in the Gerakan leadership, however, will grasp at any straw to save their own political life.

DAP’s stand on PAS’ objective of an Islamic State is clear and unequivocal. In fact, the only political party in Malaysia which could be depended upon to be consistent in its opposition to an Islam¬ic State is the DAP.

Gerakan’s record on the religious rights and freedom of all Malaysians is a poor one. Up to now, no Gerakan leader has dared to raise in the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council the repeal of Sections 67 and 70 of the Selangor Islamic Law Administration Enactment, al¬though Gerakan is a full member of the Barisan Nasional.

Although Gerakan claims to be opposed to ‘Negara Islam’, the Gerakan leaders are very happy to see Selangor becoming a ‘Negeri Islam’ with the enactment of the Selangor Islamic Law Administration
Enactment.

I must congratulate Dr. Kang this time however for so deftly maneuvering the Penang Chief Minister,
Dr. Lim Chong Eu, to open the Gerakan’s second round of attack on the DAP on the Islamic State issue, when Chong Eu was invited to declare open the National Lims Association annual general meeting in Taiping on Sunday.

At the National Lims Association annual general meeting, Chong Eu made a veiled but baseless attack on the DAP for supporting an Islamic State. Dr. Kang’s press conference yesterday was the second salvo in this second round of Gerakan attack on the DAP on the Islamic State issue.

I know that Dr. Kang has taken a lot of pains this time to prepare for the second round of attack on the DAP on the Islamic State issue. He has also prepared and printed hundreds of thousands of a special eight-page pamphlet to revive the Islamic State attack on the DAP.

Although the Islamic State attack takes only one page out of the eight pages of this special Gerakan pamphlet, which is printed by a Penang-based newspaper printer, the aim is to make the Islamic State attack on DAP respectable again, after it had been discredited by Lim Keng Yaik’s secret Jakarta talks fiasco.

However, I want to advise Keng Yaik that a lie remains a lie, whatever new ways the Gerakan Leadership is finding to tell it.

Before the Gerakan goes full steam on their second round of attack on the DAP on the Islamic State issue, is the Gerakan leader¬ship going to apologise for their first round of attack, based on the lie about the secret DAP-PAS Jakarta talks?

Keng Yaik can ask Chong Eu to represent him in the public debate on the Islamic State issue

My previous challenge to Keng Yaik to a public debate on the Gerakan allegation that the DAP wants to establish an Islamic State, by co-operating with PAS still stands.

If the Gerakan leadership is so convinced that the DAP wants to establish an Islamic State by co-operating with PAS, Keng Yaik would jump at the opportunity to have a public debate with me to expose the DAP’s ‘true colours’?

Why is Keng Yaik so fearful of such a public debate if Gerakan is so convinced about the DAP’s evil and ulterior motives?

I had said that, if Keng Yaik feels that he needs support and backing in such a public debate, he could have Dr. Koh Tsu Koon on his team. I do not think he would want Dr. Kang with him. If Keng Yaik still has no confidence in a public debate with me on the Gerakan allegation of the DAP wanting to create an Islamic State by co-operat¬ing with PAS, I have no objection if Dr. Lim Chong Eu represents him in the public debate, provided he could persuade Chong Eu to take his place.