by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, January 12th 1995:
MCA national leadership has made ‘greatest blunder in Malaysian politics for 1995’ when it falsely claimed that the issue of Tanah Putih, Gua Musang smallholders in Kelantan is a case of Kelantan State Government acquiring 1,000 acres of 500 Chinese smallholders under the Land Acquisition Act without compensation
The MCA national leadership has made ‘greatest blunder in Malaysian politics for 1995’ when it falsely claimed that the issue of Tanah Putih, Gua Musang smallholders in Kelantan is a case of Kelantan State Government acquiring 1,000 acres of 500 Chinese smallholders under the Land Acquisition Act without compensation.
It is no wonder that all the MCA national leaders went into hiding when I declared that DAP lawyers are on standby to file legal action against the Kelantan State Government for acquiring 1,000 acres of 500 Chinese smallholders under the Land Acquisition Act without compensation and challenged the MCA leaders to produce documentary evidence so that the DAP could institute such legal action.
Although I extended the 24-hour deadline to the MCA national leadership to produce such documentary evidence to 72 hours, there was no response from the MCA.
The MCA will never dare to file legal action against any UMNO leader or government for violating the legal and constitutional rights of Malaysians – and this constitute the greatest difference between the DAP and the MCA, for the DAP will not hesitate to file legal action to defend the legal and constitutional rights of Malaysians, regardless of whether it is against UMNO, Barisan Nasional, PAS or ever Parti Melayu Semangat 46.
MCA national leadership should publicly apologise for falsely claiming that the issue of Tanah Putih, Gua Musang smallholders is a case of acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act without compensation
I do not know how the MCA national leadership could make such a ‘great political blunder of the year’ by claiming that the issue of Tanah Putih, Gua Musang smallholders is a case of acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act without compensation.
If the mistake is a genuine one, then it shows the utter incompetence and stupidity of the MCA national leaders, who could not make a distinction between a land acquisition case under the under the Land Acquisition Act from one which is not.
If the mistake is deliberate, then it shows the unprincipled nature of the MCA leaders who are prepared to tell lies just to score cheap political points.
MCA national leaders should explain how come they know about the letter of the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association to me when I have not even received it?
The MCA National Publicity Bureau issued a statement two days before the DAP National Conference Against Land Acquisition Abuses and Injustices in Kuala Lumpur on January 8, alleging that I had applied double standards in fighting for the smallholders affected by acquisitions of their land by state governments under the Land Acquisition Act, such as at Gelang Patah and Tanjong Kupang in connection with the Johore-Singapore Second Crossing and Second Johore Bahru township, the Seremban II township and the Bandar Aman Jaya project in Sungai Patani, Kedah while saying nothing about similar land acquisitions at Tanah Putih in Gua Musang.
The MCA National Publicity Bureau even claimed that the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association had written to me separately in November and December.
On January 9, I said that I had not received any letter from the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association but the MCA National Publicity Bureau issued a second statement claiming that the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association had written to me in a letter dated December 14.
I have now received this letter from the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association dated December 14, but can the MCA national leaders explain how come they know about the letter sent to me by the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association, even before I had received the letter? Could it be that this letter from the Smallholders Association purportedly to be dated 14th December 1994 but which did not reach me until after the National Conference Against Land Acquisition Abuses and Injustices was in fact prepared and drafted on the advice and directive of the MCA national leaders?
I am now studying this letter as the DAP will speak up for justice anytime, any place, but the Gua Musang Branch of National Smallholders Association should explain why the MCA national leaders knew about its letter to me even before I had received it allowing the MCA National Publicity Bureau to try to make political capital out of a false claim.