By Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, August 14, 1994:
Liong Sik should explain whether the RM6 million which 600,000 MCA members are donating to Chinese Independent Secondary Schools at RM10 a member are being paid by the MCA members or by the Chinese community
MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, should explain whether the RM6 million which 600,000 MCA members are donating to chiese Independent Secondary Schools at RM10 a member are being paid by the MCA members themselves or by the Chinese community.
Up to now, the impression Liong Sik and other MCA leaders have given to the Chinese community is that everyone of the 600,000 MCA members would be donating RM10 each, so as to achieve the RM6 million donation mark.
Now, it would appear that it is not the MCA members who are paying RM10 each, but the Chinese community who have to contribute the RM6 million so that MCA can claim that its 600,000 MCA members contribute RM6 million to the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
This, for instance, is the explanation which MCA officials in Jempol are explaining to the public in Bahau when questioned as to why the Jempol MCA Division donated only RM6,300 for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools when it collected RM25,700.
The explanation is that the ‘Dragon and Lion Dances Great Display’ in Bahau on 10th July was organized by Jempol MCA Division and assisted by Aik Bee MCA Branch are guilty of misleading the donors and collecting donations under false pretences.
This is because the donors were told in no uncertain terms that the donations for the ‘Dragon and Lion Dances Great Display’ were all meant for Chinese Independent Seconfary Schools and nothing was said about collecting donations from the Bahau public so that the Aik MCA Branch can donate RM6,300 in the name of its 630 members on the basis of RM10 a member.
How can the Jempol MCA Division and th eAik Bee MCA Branch justify the collection of RM25,700 from the Jempol donors, retain more than 75 per cent for their own use and hand over less than 25 per cent for the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools?
The ‘Kit Siang-Liong Sik mutual verification’ appointment at Bukit China next week is the last chance for the MCA president to satisfy Malaysians about the honesty, integrity and accountability of every sen of MCA donations for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools
If this MCA Jempol-Style of donation of retaining more than 75 per cent of donations and handing over less than 25 per cent is the manner in which MCA is carrying out its nation-wide donation drive for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools, then MCA would be handing over RM6 million in the name of 600,000 MCA would be handing over RM6 million in the name of 600,000 MCA members while retaining at least RM20 million of the total donations for their own party use!
No wonder MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik did not want the DAP to continue to question the MCA on the honesty, integrity and accountability of MCA donations for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools and had tried to shut up the DAP by resurrecting the non-issue of the DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar campaign.
The DAP expose of the MCA Jempol Division Chinese Independent Secondary Schools donation scandal, and the inability of Liong Sik to answer a single one of my questions about the honesty, integrity and accountability of MCA donation drive for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools, has strengthened suspicion that there are no adequate safeguards to ensure that every sen of donation collected by MCA using the name of the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools would be fully accounted for and handed over.
This has made it even more imperative that Liong Sik must pluck up the courage and declare that he would attend the ‘Kit Siang-Liong Sik mutual verification’ appointment at Bukit China next week, for it is the lost chance for the MCA President to satisfy Malaysians about the honesty, integrity and accountability of every sen of MCA donations for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
There is nothing wrong with the DAP Save Bukit China One-Person One-Dollar Account, except in the minds of MCA leaders. But in the minds of the people, there is no doubt that they believe there is something very wrong with regard to the honesty, integrity and accountability of MCA collection of donations in the name of Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
I am extending my three-day deadline to Liong Sik to declare whether he would attend the ‘Kit Siang-Liong Sik verification’ appointment in Bukit China by another three days till Wednesday
Liong Sik should in fact thank the DAP for giving him a last chance to establish the honest, integrity and accountability of every sen of MCA donations for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
May be Liong Sik has not fully realized the importance for him and the MCA to attend the ‘Kit Siang-Liong Sik mutual verification’ appointment in Bukit China to clear all public doubts about MCA donations for Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
For this reason, I am extending my three-day deadline for Liong Sik to declare whether he would attend the ‘Kit Siang-Liong Sik mutual verification’ appointment at Bukit China in Malacca, which expires today, by another three days till Wednesday – to give Liong Sik as well as the MCA Presidential Council and the MCA Central Committee at their weekly Tuesday meetings more time to weigh the high political costs if he dare not turn up for the ‘Kit Siang-Liong Sik verification’ appointment in Bukit China in Malacca.