This came after Penang MCA chairman Tan Teik Cheng had recently slammed the Penang government for giving too much funding for Islamic affairs and accused it of neglecting the Chinese in the state.
Tan had led a group of 10 MCA members for a watching brief this morning.They were seated in the public gallery when the attacks began.
It began when opposition leader Jahara Hamid (BN-Telok Ayer Tawar) said BN had spent a lot of money on Islamic affairs from 2008 to date by building mosques and funding Islamic education programmes.
She said the BN federal government spent RM462.1 million on Islamic affairs in Penang from 2008 to 2017.
Jahara was commenting on the Pakatan Harapan government’s claim that it spent more than RM400 million on the state’s Islamic affairs from 2008 to date.
BN has often been criticised for spending less during the time it formed the state government before 2008.
Making use of this opportunity, Chow Kon Yeow (DAP-Padang Kota) interrupted Jahara for clarification. He thanked Jahara for BN’s allocation for Islamic affairs.
“Now, please ask your state MCA chief (Tan). He claims that we, the Penang government, have been giving too much for Islamic affairs. Come on, please ask them why they are saying that.”
This caused a flurry in the Pakatan bench as they were not aware Tan was in the gallery.
There was pandemonium as both sides of the political divide started screaming at each other.
Several executive council members spotted Tan in the gallery and started jeering at him.
Tan, who appeared bewildered by the sudden attention on him, stayed calm and didn’t leave the gallery.
Speaker Law Choo Kiang then ordered all to stand down and told Jahara to wrap up her speech. It took a few minutes for the house to return to normal.
Tan had said the Chinese majority in Penang were at the losing end as Malays got the majority of the goodies from the state government.
He claimed Penang Malays received more state housing, a lion’s share of the state’s civil service jobs, funds for small-medium enterprises and a high budget for Islamic development.
Tan had said the allocation for Islamic affairs had increased year-on-year, but there was nothing for the Chinese in Penang.
Tan said close to RM460 million was spent on Islamic affairs from 2008 to 2016 during Pakatan’s rule. Previously, BN spent a total of RM249 million from 1999 to 2007 in Penang, he added.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Air Putih) later walked in to give his comments on the matter, with Tan still in the gallery.
Interrupting the speech by Shariful Azhar Othman (BN-Bertam), Lim said the Penang government had often supported Islamic affairs and hoped the BN bench could support these efforts.
“So, Bertam, can you ask MCA to cut down on their chauvinistic and racist politics? We have been called names and I had curse words hurled at me.
“MCA called us anti-Chinese and anti-non-Muslim. Please ask MCA to stop this kind of things.
“Would you do that, Bertam? Do you agree or not agree that they are racist?” Lim asked Shariful.
Shariful then said: “I will not comment, agree or not agree. I am a first-term assemblyman.”
Lim then laughed off his comment, saying he will “let him go”, “since you’re a first-term assemblyman”.
RSN Rayer (DAP-Seri Delima) then stood up, telling Lim to ignore MCA, as they were “the Malaysian Confused Association”.
Later, Tan told reporters that he was amused by the attacks on him, saying it only made him a stronger “nemesis” of the Penang government.