Kit Siang said the current MCA leadership’s DNA had mutated as compared to the DNA of the early MCA leaders.
Speaking at a ceramah for the by-election in Sungai Besar, Selangor, last night, he pointed out Tan Siew Sin’s reputation as a “tight-fisted” and “very careful” finance minister, and mentioned his relationship with first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who had said “it was a real joy to work with Siew Sin”.
Lim said: “It would be completely unthinkable for Liow to have the DNA of Tan Siew Sin as to be able to be “straight, frank, honest and sincere” in his dealings with the Prime Minister.
Siew Sin, H.S.Lee, Ong Yoke Lin and Tan Cheng Lock would not have allowed the 1MDB scandal and the RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal to have happened – “but today, none of the MCA Ministers and leaders dare to stop or even question (prime minister Najib Razak) about the two scandals”.
Lim’s remarks came in response to a comment by the MCA president on Friday about PAS and the splinter party Amanah sharing the same DNA.
He said Liow was being immature and uninformed, and Malaysian government leaders did not understand the worldwide struggle between broad-minded Islamic politics and closed, narrow-minded brand.
“What do we have in Malaysia? A revival of the hudud debate following the success of the Najib-Hadi plot in Parliament on May 26 to distract national attention from Malaysia’s first twin global financial scandals.
On May 26, a private member’s bill by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, to enable Kelantan to impose Islamic criminal penalties, was given priority for debate in the Dewan Rakyat – a move which Lim described as “the most disgraceful episode” in the Barisan Nasional’s history and a betrayal of what Umno, MCA and MIC had stood for since Merdeka.
He pointed out that Tunisia, which is 99.8 percent Muslim, did not have hudud, and the dominant party, Ennahda, or Renaissance Party, was a moderate Islamist political party which had recently announced it would keep its religious activities separate from its politics.
A leader of Ennahda had also told DAP leaders last year that ensuring peace and freedom of religion should be the priority in politics, especially among Islamists, even more than implementing hudud.
Lim accused Liow and Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong of wanting the electorate in Sungai Besar by-election to reward Barisan Nasional for the great wrong committment in Parliament on May 26 when Hadi’s bill was moved for debate.