by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, September 8, 1995:
Ting Chew Peh’s personal, mean and vicious attack on me not only most unworthy of a Cabinet Minister, but shows up his parliamentery ignorance despite being a Minister for nearly 10 years
The MCA Secretary-General and Minister for Housing, Datuk Dr. Ting Chew Peh made a very personal, mean and vicious attack on me in Butterworth yesterday, which is most unworthy of a Cabinet Minister.
In the process, Chew Peh has become the latest contributor to the politics of lies and half-truths which MCA leaders are purveying against DAP leaders.
Chew Peh accused me of “only promoting” my son Guan Eng, in the DAP. May be, one day, Chew Peh would accuse me of “promoting” Guan Eng by getting the Home Minister to get Guan Eng detained under the Internal Security Act during Operation Lalang in 1987, as well as getting the Attorney-General to charge Guan Eng under the Sedition Act and Printing Presses and Publications Act – charges which could disqualify Guan Eng as a MP on conviction.
The example given by Chew Peh to justify his allegation that I was “only promoting” Guan Eng in the DAP is most outrageous and preposterous.
Chew Peh said that during the last meeting of Parliament, out of 14 opportunities given to the DAP to make adjournment speeches, 12 were made by Guan Eng.
Ting asked: “What about the other DAP leaders such as Karpal Singh? Lim is only promoting his son. Isn’t this a dictatorship?” (NST p.17, Utusan Malaysia and Chinese press).
I do not know whether to laugh at Chew Peh’s parliamentary ignorance as he had been a Minister for close to 10 years or to be angry at his most unacademic lack of shame when telling falsehoods.
I do not know what is the practice for MCA MPs, but as far as DAP is concerned, right from the beginning going back to the seventies, DAP MPs had been submitting parliamentary questions or adjournment speeches they want to make in Parliament without having to get prior clearance from the party parliamentary leadership.
I never knew what question or adjournment speeches DAP MPs had submitted to Parliament until I get a copy of the Parliamentary Order Paper for the entire meeting, which is normally printed and ready only two days before the first day of the Parliamentary meeting.
Similarly, for the August meeting of Parliament which started on August 14, I did not know which DAP MP had sent in notices for adjournment speeches until received a copy of the Parliamentary Order Paper for the 10-day meeting late on Saturday, August 12, 1995.
Under the Standing Orders, two weeks’ notice must be given to Parliament for every adjournment speech. Every MP is entitled to give notice to make adjournment speeches during the short Parliamentary meetings – excluding the two long Parliamentary meetings on the Royal Address and the Budget.
Under the Standing Orders, two adjournment speeches are allowed each day. If more than two adjournment speeches are submitted for one sitting, then it is up to the Speaker to allot the two adjournment speeches to be chosen by way of ballot.
The question of my “giving opportunities” to Guan Eng to make adjournment speeches therefore does not arise and is not only a pure figment of Chew Peh’s imagination but betrays his abysmal ignorance of parliamentary Standing Orders and procedures!
MCA with 31 MPs submitting only one single adjournment speech in the August Parliament is proof that MCA MPs are mostly “dump” in Parliament
If Chew Peh take the trouble to refer to the Parliamentary Order Paper made available to all MPs at the start of the August parliamentary meeting, he will find that 20 adjournment speeches had been scheduled for the 10-day sittings.
Out of these 20 adjournment speeches, 17 were from DAP and only three from Barisan. Out of the 17 DAP adjournment speeches, 14 were by Guan Eng and three by MP for Seputeh, Liew Ah Kim.
If Guan Eng has more items to raise in the adjournment speeches in Parliament, Chew Peh can either agree or disagree, but why should he distort and twist the issue by claiming that I had given “opportunities” to Guan Eng which are denied to other DAP MPs just to make the spurious accusation of dictatorship against me?
What Chew Peh should be concerned about is why apart from one MCA adjournment speech, all the other 30 MCA MPs (apart from those who are either Minister, Deputy Minister or Parliamentary Secretary) – including the one who had been defeated and rejected by the voters of Bukit Bintang and had to enter Dewan Rakyat by the backdoor – had not bothered to make adjournment speeches as compared to DAP’s seven MPs when Parliament met in August
Isn’t this proof that giving MCA 31 MPs in Parliament is a colossal waste as they are mostly dumb, lazy and not fit to be in Parliament at all?