by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Sunday, 22nd March 1992:
Koh Tsu Koon should make up for his 17-month failure to provide annual State Government grants to the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools in the next Penang State Assembly.
Dr. Koh Tsu Koon has been Penang Chief Minister for 17 months. His greatest disappointment is that he has failed to live up to his promise when he entered politics, which is to ‘attack into the Barisan Nasional to rectify the Barisan Nasional’.
One of the Injustices which should be ‘rectified’ is the Barisan Nasional government’ attitude towards Chinese education, in particular the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
Everyone had expected Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to get the Penang State Government to make annual state government allocations to the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools, but he had steadfastly refused to do so, even voting against the DAP motion in the Penang Assembly to empower the State Government to make such grants.
I call on Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to make up for his 17-month failure to provide annual State Government grants to the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools in Penang in the next Penang State Assembly.
It is very sad that the Penang State Government have two self-proclaimed ‘Chinese educationists’,
namely Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and Dr. Kang Chin Seng, but they are not prepared to do for the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools in Penang what other State Governments are prepared to do for their Chinese Independent Secondary Schools, as in Sabah.
It is issues like this that Dr. Koh should be concerned about, instead of making uncalled for remarks against the DAP.
I was very surprised when the Friday newspapers carried a report of Dr. Koh Tsu Koon hitting out at me over the question of the fixing of State Assembly dates.
I had not said anything on this issue since the Penang State Assembly last December, when I remarked that Dr. Koh was trying to be a ‘little clever’ in deliberately clashing the State Assembly meeting with
the Parliamentary sittings.
The people of Penang and Malaysia will know soon whether my criticism of Dr.Koh Tsu Koon is still valid when next Penang Assembly dates are announced.