by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-Genera and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Java on Monday, July 12, 1993:
DAP national leadership conference in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday will consider the proposal that the DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund be donated to Pei Fong Chinese Secondary School, Dong/Zhiao Zhang education fund or Southern College
The DAP national leadership conference in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday will consider the proposal that the DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund be donated to Pei Fong Chinese Secondary School, Dong/Zhiau Zhong education fund or Southern College.
I welcome this proposal by a Chinese press columnist, although I deeply regret that this columnist, has failed in his journalist duties in understanding the background facts before making comments.
The DAP had never been relucant to hand over the proceeds of the DAP Save Bukit China “One-Person,- One-Dollar’ Fund to the trustees of Bukit China, Cheng Hoon Teng, In fact, we were most reluctant to “keep the money’ on behalf of Cheng Hoon Teng, for it allowed irresponsible and unscrupulous MCA leaders, going up all the way to the MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, to make baseless allegations against the DAP of having followed in the grand MCA tradition of misappropriating public funds.
Let me put the record straight to prove that the DAP had. wanted to hand, over the Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund to Cheng Hoon Teng in February 1985, and that we had been most reluctant in “keeping the money’ on behalf of Cheng Hoon Teng for the last nine years.
At the end of November 1984, the Malacca Chief Minister, Rahim Tamby Cik, in order to put further pressure to achieve his plan to demolish Bukit China, demanded that Cheng Hoon Teng should pay quit rent, and arrears for the past 17 years for Bukit China amounting to over $2 million within a month or face confiscation of Bukit China by the State Government.
On 7th December, 1984, DAP announced the launching of a DAP Save Bukit China and Oppose S2-million Quit Rent One-Person One-Dollar campaign. The main purpose of this One-Person One-Dollar campaign is not so much the amount of funds to be collected, but the masses to be mobilised in the country to express their opposition and protest to the escalating pressures by the conspiracy of Malacca Chief Minister and MCA leaders to acquire and demolish Bukit China, As a result, we had aimed to conduct such a campaign for two to three year’s.
Before the DAP Save Bukit China and Oppose $2-million Quit Rent One-Person One-Dollar campaign could get off the ground, DAP announced its suspension three weeks later after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr, Mahathir Mohamed said on January 1, 1985 that “racial polarisation’ was getting very tense and critical in the country.
In response to the Prime Minister’s concern, DAP suspended the Save Bukit China and Oppose $2-million Quit Rent One-Person One-Dollar campaign, so as to pave the way for the resolution of the Bukit China controversy.
This was what happened, as faced with the massive opposition of the people throughout the country – which was already evident, with the earlier successful DAP 300,000 Save Bukit China mass-signature campaign – the Malacca State Government backed down from its
On 15th February 1985, DAP National Publicity Secretary, Sdr. Liew Ah Kim announced that the DAP Save Bukit China and Oppose $2 million Quit Rent One-Person One-Dollar campaign had collected $21,928.50.
We immediately contacted the Chairman of Cheng Hoon Teng Trustees, the late Ee Yew Lin, in February 1985 itself to hand over the money, but he asked the DAP to ‘hold1 the money until conclusion of negotiations between the Bukit, China trustees and the Malacca State Government of the Bukit China issue.
When in 1992, Cheng Hoon Teng announced that it had re-solved the Bukit China quit rent, issue, we again wrote to the Bukit China trustees to hand over the fund, together with interests, to Cheng Hoon Teng. Cheng Hoon Teng replied on 30th September 1992 that “the monies donated by well-wishers to the Corporation’s Bukit China Fund for the purpose of paying quit rent is no longer required and shall be refunded to the donors since the Bukit China quit rent case in Court has already been resolved.”
On 8th December 1992, DAP again wrote to Cheng Hoon Teng Trustees expressing our intention to contribute the money to the Bukit. China Beautification Committee to erect a memorial to commemorate the historic success of the Save Bukit China campaign in 1984, asking whether this is agreeable to Cheng Hoon Teng and we are still waiting for a reply from Cheng Hoon Teng.
Highly defamatory for anyone to suggest that the DAP was relucant to hand over the DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund to Cheng Hoon Teng
From the above chronology of events, it is clear that the DAP had never been reluctant, to hand over the DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund to the Bukit China trustees and we had been the most relucant ‘holders’ of this sum.
It is therefore not only most unfair, but highly defamatory, for anyone to suggest, that the DAP was reluctant to hand over this money to Cheng Hoon Teng trustees and to equate the DAP with the MCA with regard to its Chang Min Tien Education Fund and so many other MCA financial scandals. DAP is entitled to a full and public apology at such defamatory suggestion.
Call on Cheng Hoon Teng Trustees to declare its stand on the proposal that the DAP hand over the fund to Pei Fong, Dong/Zhiao Zhung or Southern College
As it has been proposed that the DAP donate this sum of DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund, which together with interests stands at RM33,732.79 as of 15th June 1993 to Pay Fong Chinese Independent Secondary School in Malacca, Dong/Zhiao Zhung education fund or Southern College, the DAP national leadership conference in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday will give it serious consideration.
I for one regard this as a good proposal.
However, it is only proper that Cheng Hoon Teng Trustees declare that they have no objections to the handing over of the Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Fund to either Pay Fong Chinese Independent Secondary School in Malacca, Dong/Zhiao Zhung education fund or Southern College, and I call on the Cheng Hoon Teng trustees to make their stand before the DAP National leadership conference on Sunday.