Press Conference Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP Tanjung , Lim Kit Siang, after filing defamation suit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court against MCA President MCA President, Datuk Seri Dr.Ling Liong Sik, on Thursday, August 26, 1993 at 11 a.m.
Liong Sik should resign as MCA president as he has brought shame and dishonor to the MCA in not daring to institude legal proceedings when he had been accused of being ‘corrupt’.
I have instituted legal proceedings of defamation against MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, because of his statement in Labis which was reported in the Star of 14th August 1993 insinuating that although the DAP Save Bukit China One-person One-dollar Fund ten years ago had collected RM3 million, I had pocketed the money in announcing that the total collected was RM21, 000.
The DAP leaders are men of honour and integrity, who had made great oersonal sacrifices for their political beliefs, and several had lost their personal freedoms during detentions under the Internal Security Act.
DAP leaders have honour and integrity to defend, unlike MCA leaders, and it is history that once MCA President was even jailed not only locally but overseas for white-collar crimes.
This great distinction between DAP and MCA leaders was recently highlighted by the MCA President, Datuk Dr.Ling Liong Sik, who had challenged me to make a police report within a week that he (Dr.Ling) is corrupt, and that if he was found to be corrupt, he would retire from politics.
If I had been accused of being ‘corrupt’ by Liong Sik, I would not challenge Liong Sik to lodge any police report, but would slap a defamation suit on him immediately to demand that he pay compensation for damaging my good name, reputation and character.
Why is Liong Sik afraid to institute legal proceedings against me if he believes that I had accused him of being ‘corrupt’ instead of challenging me to lodge a police report against him.
Is this because Liong Sik has more confidence in the Police and the Anti-Corruption Agency in that they will give more protection to the Barisan National leaders – just as in the case of the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal involving MIC President, Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu and the unusual wealth scandal of the Malacca Chief Minister, Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Cik – than in the courts.
Warning to Liong Sik that he would get a defamation suit for every defamatory statement against me.
Is it because Liong Sik knows that if he institute legal proceedings, he would have to appear in court and he is awfully frightened of going into the witness box and being cross-examined by Karpal Singh?
In fact, it is no secret that cross-examining and breaking Liong Sik in the witness box in court would be one of the high points in Karpal Singh’s distinguished legal career!
Liong Sik should resign as MCA President as he has brought dishonour and shame to the MCA in not daring to institute legal proceedings when he had been accused of being ‘corrupt’.
I want to serve notice on Liong Sik and to all concerned that I would henceforth not hesitate to institute legal proceedings against any defamatory statement against me, and Liong Sik can expect a defamation suit for every defamatory statement he made against me!
Liong Sik should sack his ‘cow-dung counselors’ who have for the third time ‘dug holes’ for him to jump into
It is unfortunate that Liong Sik did not want to listen to my advice to sack his ‘cow-dung counselors’, who have for the third time in two months ‘dug holes’ for Liong Sik to jump into.
Liong Sik has clearly not learnt the lesson from the first two disastrous gambits of his ‘cow-dung counsellors’ – to challenge me within a week to announce details of the DAP Save Bukit China One-person One-Dollar Account and his Tsu Tung-Poh ‘cow-dung’ story which ended up with Liong Sik full of cow-dung on his face.
Liong Sik must have been assured by his ‘cow-dung counselors’ that this third political gambit would work this time – i.e. to challenge me to make a police report within a week that he (Dr. Ling) is corrupt and that he would retire from politics if he is found to be corrupt.
To giving Liong Sik greater confidence, some of the ‘cow-dung counselors’ like Wong See Wah and Loke Yen Yue promised to come out openly to support Liong Sik’s challenge. Liong Sik should have realized that if his political ‘gambit’ needs the open support of his ‘cow-dung counselors’ to have greater impact, then it is not much of a political ‘gambit’!
Liong Sik has been ‘check-mated’ by his own political gambit, and I am still waiting for his answers to my two questions:
Was this ‘gambit’ inspired by the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal of Samy Vellu and the unusual wealth scandal of Rahim Tamby Cik; and
Who are the ministers, Deputy Ministers, Mentri-Mentri Besar and Chief Ministers who had continued to hold political office although found to be corrupt or to have committed a crime?
Meanwhile, I am still waiting for Liong Sik to give satisfactory and acceptable explanation to five MCA financial scandals, namely:
The Multi-Purpose Holdings sale scandal;
The KSM rescue scandal;
Liong Sik’s Bolton Finance Scandal;
The Chang Min Tien Education Fund Scandal; and
The MCA ‘Save Bukit China’ Fund Scandal.