by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 22nd May 1991:
Gerakan has become the ‘rat running across the street, everyone shouting it should be hit’ because of its active opposition to the Chinese Cultural City.
Gerakan has become the ‘rat running across the street, everyone shouting it should be hit’ because of its active opposition to the MCA’s Malaysian Chinese Cultural City proposal.
Malaysians are shocked that Gerakan leaders seem to be competing with certain UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders in denouncing the Chinese Cultural City proposal, and the impression that has been given is that the Gerakan National Vice President, Datuk Alex Lee is ‘more UMNO than UMNO’ while the Political Secretary to the Gerakan President, Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, Ting Chu Teck, is more ‘UMNO Youth than UMNO Youth’ in their scathing attacks on the Malaysian Chinese Cultural City proposal.
With these Gerakan leaders publicly attacking the Malaysian Chinese Cultural City as ‘obstacle to national unity’ and declaring that ‘we do not want to waste human and financial resources to build a man-made cultural city’, is it any surprise that UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders are making more and more extreme statements on the issue?
Even the statement issued by the Gerakan Penang Chief Minister, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, can only feed the extremist frenzy against the Cultural City proposal – for Tsu Koon’s statement is so ambivalent as to express understanding for the UMNO and UMNO Youth opposition to the Chinese Cultural City.
The Gerakan leadership has realised that it has become the ‘rat running across the street, everyone shouting it should be hit’ because of its shocking stand on the Chinese Cultural City issue.
In 1982, the present Gerakan Deputy President, Kerk Choo Ting and the Gerakan Penang Chief Minister, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, joined the Gerakan on the banner of ‘attack into the Barisan Nasional to rectify the Barisan Nasional’.
The Gerakan’s stand on the Chinese Cultural City has shown conclusively the final result of such ‘attack into the BN to rectify the BN’ – which is not the rectification of BN, but the total rectification of the Gerakan leaders by UMNO and UMNO Youth!
Instead of advising UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders to be more Malaysian-minded on the Chinese Cultural City issue, the Gerakan leaders are encouraging UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders in their opposition and condemnation of the Chinese Cultural City.
How can there be an ‘acceptable formula’ for Chinese Cultural City when Gerakan leaders are ‘more UMNO than UMNO and more UMNO Youth than UMNO Youth’ in opposing it as an obstacle to national unity?
The Gerakan has been reduced to an utterly opportunistic and unprincipled political party. This is best illustrated by the statement by the Gerakan Acting President, Kerk Choo Ting, yesterday that ‘Gerakan does not oppose the Chinese Cultural City, and would give suitable assistance if there is acceptable formula’.
How can there be an ‘acceptable formula’ for the construction of the Chinese Cultural City when Gerakan leaders are more ‘UMNO than UMNO and more UMNO Youth than UMNO Youth’ in denouncing it as an obstacle to national unity? There can never be an acceptable formula for the Malaysian Chinese Cultural City so long as Gerakan is instigating UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders to oppose it.
Is Kerk Choo Ting’s statement a sincere statement reflecting the Gerakan stand on the Chinese cultural city or had it been made just to deflect the pathetic position of Gerakan of being a ‘rat running across the street, everyone shouting it should be hit’?
If Kerk’s statement is official Gerakan stand, then how can Kerk Choo Ting explain the public stands of Gerakan leaders who are ‘more UMNO than UMNO and more UMNO Youth than UMNO Youth’ in opposing the Malaysian Chinese Cultural City?
It is significant that Kerk Choo Ting’s statement declaring that Gerakan supports the Chinese Cultural City if there is an ‘acceptable formula’ is not published in the Malay newspapers. What is even more significant is that even in today’s Utusan Malaysia, Alex Lee is continuing to describe the Chinese Cultural City as a ‘Chinatown’ and attack it as an obstacle to national unity.
Gerakan telling different things to different language newspapers.
In the short report on Alex Lee’s comment in Utusan Malaysia today, the word ‘Chinatown’ appeared six times! In today’s Utusan Malaysia, it was reported:
“Menjawab satu soalan, beliau (Alex Lee) menegaskan, projek ‘Chinatown’ sememangnya tidak menyatupadukan kaum di negara ini, sebaliknya boleh membawa perpecahan, sekalipun MCA mendakwa projek tersebut bertujuan untuk menyatupadukan masyarakat pelbagai kaum.”
Here we have ample proof of Gerakan leaders telling two different things to different language newspapers – to Chinese press, the statement by Kerk Choo Ting that Gerakan does not oppose the Chinese cultural city, and will even assist if there is ‘acceptable formula’, while at the same time to the Malay press, the continued Gerakan opposition to Chinese cultural city and distorting it as ‘Chinatown’!
It is time that the Gerakan stop playing this double-faced political game. There are things which are more important than just pleasing the UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders, and to edge out the MCA to get the favours of UMNO at the expense of MCA.
If Kerk Choo Ting’s statement reflects Gerakan stand, then Gerakan leaders who had been ‘more UMNO than UMNO and more UMNO Youth than UMNO Youth’ in opposing the Chinese cultural city proposal should be disciplined and sacked from public and party office.
If the Gerakan does not take such severe disciplinary actions, then the people will know the Gerakan leaders are still playing the two-faced political game, sacrificing public and national interest for the
narrow and petty self interest of the Gerakan and individual leaders.