Tan Ghim Hwa’s first task is to suspend all harassment and victimisation of hawkers on Penang island

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, February 16, 1992:

Tan Ghim Hwa’s first task is to suspend all harassment and victimisation of hawkers on Penang island

Congratulations to Tan Ghim Hwa on his appointment as MPPP President. The Penang MCA and Penang MCA Youth have publicly declared their opposition to the appointment of Tan Ghim Hwa as unsuitable and improper. The DAP, however, has no objection to the appointment of anyone provided he could ‘clean up’ the MPPP and ends its ‘decadence and impotence’ as publicly admitted by the Gerakan President, Datuk Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, last December.

It is noteworthy however that the Penang Chief Minister, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, reiterated only three days ago that he would make the announcement of the new MPPP President ‘by the end of the month’.

His quick change of mind and the holding of emergency state executive council meeting have shown the effect of public criticisms and pressures over the appointment of the MPPP President, in particular DAP criticisms of the Chief Minister’s lack of leadership and direction in allowing Datuk Kamaruzzaman Shariff to continue as MPPP President by ‘remote control’ from Kuala Lumpur where he had been transferred since February 1; and secondly, public pressure by Penang MCA and MCA Youth declaring Tan Ghim Hwa as not fit and qualified to be appointed MPPP President.

Tan Ghim Hwa’s first action as MPPP President should be to order an immediate suspension of all MPPP harassment and victimisation of the hawkers on the Penang island.

His second challenge is to publicly identify the areas of the MPPP’s ‘decadence and impotence’ as admitted by the Gerakan President last December, together with concrete action plans to wipe out such ‘decadence and impotence’. Penang DAP is prepared to give full support in the campaign to wipe out the MPPP’s ‘decadence and impotence’.

Tan Ghim Hwa is bound to face resistance and opposition from the Municipal Councillors in any claim to wipe out ‘decadence and impotence’ of the MPPP, especially as 20 of the 24 Councillors were reappointed from the previous Council.

May be the first thing Tan Ghim Hwa should do in his first meeting of the MPPP is to ask the 20 Councillors who had served previously, and must be held responsible for the MPPP ‘decadence and impotence’, to tender their resignations, so that the MPPP can start off on a completely new slate!