by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 11th October 1991:
Liong Sik has declared ‘war’ against the DAP but he dare not lead the ‘war’ against DAP
Yesterday, the MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik declared ‘war’ against the DAP but it is also very clear that he dare not lead this ‘war’ against the DAP!
He announced at a meeting of all MCA elected representatives in Genting Highlands yesterday that the MCA was launching an all-out expose of the DAP’S ‘campaign of lies’.
I can understand why Liong Sik is so angry because last week the DAP again exposed the MCA leadership’s politics of parasitism and double-faced tactics over the issue of the Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) College.
The DAP pointed out that when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, said at the TAR College Convocation last Saturday that TAR should review its philosophy of exclusivity, Liong Sik’s immediate reaction was to concede that TAR would make the policy change suggested by Dr. Mahathir and would open its door to students from all races with him writing to the Education Ministry for a quota of Malay students for TAR.
For the next five days, all the MCA national leaders (including Liong Sik) were very busy denying these very comments – except that these denials more wore made only in Chinese newspapers and not in the English and Malay language media, or Radio and Television news, which had given Liong Sik’s initial comments extensive headline coverage.
Statements by MCA leaders, like the statement by MCA Youth leader, Chan Kong Choy blaming the Government’s refusal to recognize the TAR diplomas and courses as the chief cause why non-Chinese students do not want to study in TAR and the statement by the MCA Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Fong Chan Onn, calling on MARA to review its philosophy of exclusivity were given only to Chinese newspapers and not even to the MCA’s own English-language paper, the Star.
When DAP pointed out these unpleasant but incontrovertible facts, which again highlighted the politics of parasitism and double-faced tactics of the MCA leadership, it is understandable why Liong Sik should be so angry with the DAP at the Genting Highlands yesterday.
What is not understandable and another grave political misjudgement is for him to allege that the DAP was involved in a ‘campaign of lies’ and to declare ‘war’ by serving national notice that the MCA would expose the DAP’s ‘campaign of lies’.
Let me advise Liong Sik that if he wants the MCA leadership to declare an all-out ‘war’ against the DAP, then as MCA President, he should lead this ‘war’ unless he has no confidence both in his ‘generalship’ and in the righteousness of his cause.
Challenge to Liong Sik to public debates to give him an opportunity to expose the ‘campaign of lies’ of DAP
If Liong Sik is convinced that what the DAP says are only ‘lies’, then he should be looking for an opportunity to openly and authoritatively expose the DAP’s ‘campaign of lies’.
I had previously given Liong Sik an opportunity to expose the DAP’s campaign of lies publicly when I invited him to a public debate with me on the politics of the DAP and MCA.
I am now giving Liong Sik another opportunity to allow him to launch the MCA’s all-out war to expose the DAP’s campaign of lies’ with a big bang, and I again invite and challenge Liong Sik to a public debate with me on the politics of DAP and MCA.
This is the opportunity for Liong Sik to ‘finish off’ the DAP for its ‘campaign of lies’.
Since Liong Sik has declared an all-out ‘war’ to expose the DAP’s ‘campaign of lies’, we can have a series of public debates up and down the country, holding in each state a series of the public debate in Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and English.
Any credible political leader who wants to declare war on another political party to expose its ‘campaign of lies’ would jump at this opportunity of a series of nation-wide debate. If I were Liong Sik’s shoes, I would immediately accept the challenge.
But I do not expect Liong Sik to have the courage or the conviction to accept such a challenge to public debates for him to expose the DAP’s ‘campaign of lies’, for the final result of such public debates will be the expose not of the ‘campaign of lies’ of DAP (which exists only in the imagination of Liong Sik) but the politics of parasitism and double-faced tactics of MCA leadership.
There is no point in Liong Sik challenging the DAP to set up its own version of TAR College. If Liong Sik is a serious political leader, then he should have challenged all MCA elected representatives to ensure that MCA’s role in the Barisan Nasional Government is not one of ‘mind the house, but not the power’, but ‘mind the house and also mind the power’.
The DAP will continue to expose the politics of parasitism and double-faced tactics of the MCA national leadership.
For instance, it is nonsensical when Liong Sik reiterated after the MCA Presidential Council meeting last Tuesday that the would be writing to the Education Ministry to ask for the allocation of Malay students to TAR College.
This tantamounts to the MCA President applying to his subordinate, MCA Deputy Education Minister, Dr. fong Chan Onn. What is even more unthinkable and ridiculous is the presence of Fong Chan Onn at the MCA Presidential Council meeting, agreeing that the MCA President should formally apply to his Ministry for allocation of Malay students to TAR College.
It is completely unthinkable, for instance, for an UMNO Deputy Education Minister telling the UMNO President at the UMNO Supreme Council meeting to write to his Ministry to submit his application and requests to be considered!
This reminds me of another ridiculous episode some years back when a MCA Deputy Education Minister led a MCA Youth delegation to meet a subordinate official under him in the Ministry of Education to complain against a directive issued by the official!
These things only happen to MCA President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers who find their subordinates having even greater powers than them –but they never happen to UMNO President, Ministers or Deputy Ministers. What better proof than this of the deeply-ingrained tradition of the politics of parasitism of the MCA leadership!