Speech by Parliament Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the Bagan DAP Tanjong 3 Dinner held at Jalan Tun Raja Uda, Butterworth on Friday, 13th August 1993 at 9p.m.
Call on Liong Sik to state whether he is preparing to contest in a constituency with at least 90 per cent Malay voters in the next general elections
Strange things are happening in the MCA in recent months. Firstly, we saw in MCA the enactment of ‘a tiger which has fallen so low that it could be bulled by a cur’.
This was after the ‘iron-man’ of MCA staged a rescue of the portrait of the MCA President in a fire at the Malacca MCA state headquarters, which seems to earn him the right to kick a ‘fallen tiger’ in the MCA.
Then recently, we see a ‘crocodile’ which loves to play with ‘cow-dung’ revealing his own identity!
Malaysian politics are rapidly acquiring new folklores, and everybody will know who is the ‘crocodile which loves cow-dung’!
Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik should seriously ask for an independent investigation to ascertain whether his MCA Presidential ‘cow-dung counsellors’ are actually helping or harming him, by giving him all the wrong advices recently which have made Liong Sik acquire the reputation as the dumbest political leader in the country.
Liong Sik also issued the ‘political challenge of the year’ when as MCA President, he challenge me to contest in a parliamentary constituency in the next general elections with at least 90 per cent Malay electorate.
Liong Sik should state whether the secret message from his ‘challenge of the year’ is that he is preparing to move out from Labis and contest in a constituency which has at least 90 per cent Malay electorate in the next general elections.
Three conditions if Liong Sik wants MCA to win back its lost seats in Penang
Recently, Liong Sik has been declaring that the MCA would regain its lost seats in Penang in the next general elections.
Liong Sik should regard as his greatest ignominy as MCA President that under his leadership, MCA was completely wiped out in Penang in the 1990 general elections.
There are three conditions Liong Sik have to fulfil if MCA is to have any chance to win back its lost seats in Penang.
Liong Sik should give at least one honourable reason why he fled Mata Kuching (Now Bagan) for Labis in 1986 when he had been MP for three terms from 1974
Firstly, he must provide personal leadership for the Penang MCA in the next general elections by taking up my challenge to contest in the Tanjong parliamentary constituency.
After all, Liong Sik was the first MCA national leader to run away from his previous constituency of Mata Kuching (now Bagan) when he heard in 1986 that I was coming to Penang to contest in the general elections.
The only way Liong Sik can wipe out this ‘black mark’ on his record as MCA political leader is to contest in Tanjong in the next general elections.
Liong Sik should also give at least one honourable reason why he fled Mata Kuching where he had been MP for three terms since 1974.
I myself have changed constituencies, but every time it was for an honourable reason where I was prepared to ‘put my head on the chopping block’ to create new political breakthroughs for the DAP and the country. However, Liong Sik was not performing any ‘putting his head on the chopping block’ when he fled Mata Kuching for Labis in 1986, as he was merely trying to save his own skin!
Secondly, Liong Sik should give up his reputation as the Cabinet Minister who is most afraid of standing up to speak in Parliament. This is the reason why Liong Sik avoids Parliament like ‘plague’, for he could not bear to face the questionings of the 20 DAP MPs.
If Liong Sik cannot get Cabinet to approve RM20 million for Langkawi Project, which is a drop in the ocean of annual government educational expenditures, then MCA Ministers have no influence on decision-making in Cabinet
Thirdly, Liong Sik must show that he is a senior Cabinet Minister with weight and influence, and not just a mere ‘lightweight’. If as a senior Cabinet Minister and leader of the second largest Barisan Nasional component party, Liong Sik cannot get the Cabinet to approve RM20 million for Langkawi Project, then his influence is not very much different from that of the most junior Minister with the most inconsequential portfolio.
RM20 million is a drop in the ocean of the government’s annual expenditures for the Education Ministry, which runs into billions of ringgit a year and is something like ‘petty cash’ for senior Cabinet Ministers in their annual allocations.
If Liong Sik cannot get the Cabinet to approve RM20 million for Langkawi Project, then it is clear that the MCA Ministers do not have much influence over policy and decision-making in the Cabinet.
Tsu Koon explain why there are two classes of Barisan Nasional Assemblymen in Penang – the first-class UMNO Assemblymen who can get RM250,000 constituency development funds per year and the second-class Gerakan Assemblymen who could only get RM30,000 a year
In this connection, I call on the Penang Chief Minister, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, to explain why there are two classes of Barisan Nasional Assemblymen in Penang – the first-class UMNO Assemblymen who get RM250,000 constituency development funds per year and the second-class Gerakan Assemblymen who get only RM30,000 a year.
I exposed this division of Barisan Nasional Assemblymen in Penang into two classes at the last Penang State Assembly meeting, but Dr. Koh Tsu Koon avoided an explanation.
He could not deny what I have said as I had adequate proof to back up my statement.
If Tsu Koon is a Chief Minister who is in full control over the Penang State Government, how could he allow two classes of Barisan Nasional State Assemblymen, where UIMNO Assemblymen can get constituency development funds up to RM250,000 a year while Gerakan Assemblymen can only get about RM30,000 a year?
Furthermore, DAP constituencies are discriminated as such constituency development allocations are denied to DAP Assemblymen, when these government funds are the result of the contributions of all taxpayers.
It is no wonder that the Penang Gerakan Chairman, Datuk Tan Ghim Hwa, ahd publicly admitted that Tsu Koon has no real powers, although he blames this pathetic state of affairs on the DAP.
Penang DAP is not prepared to accept responsibility for Tsu Koon not having real powers as Penang Chief Minister, and I would advise the Penang Gerakan State leadership and the Gerakan national leadership to have a soul-searching survey as to the real root cause of their having a Penang Chief Minister who does not have real powers!