In a statement, one of the trio who are part of the Protect Taman Desa Coalition, gave a chronological account of the events that had taken place and screenshots of WhatsApp conversations, to refute Kok’s claims that they never informed her of their activities.

The coalition had previously posted screenshots of their conversations with Kok on the group’s Facebook page, along with remarks that Kok had ignored them as well as the overdevelopment in the area.

Yesterday, Kok said she reserved the right to sue for defamation to protect her reputation and warned the trio against continuing with their “despicable acts”.

In the statement today, the trio said there was nothing personal about their criticism and that they had openly campaigned in support of change in the May 9 polls.

Speaking to FMT, Philip Phang, one of the three residents, said it was Kok’s right to take legal action if she wanted, though it would be better to work together on the matter.

“The intention is simple: we work together, we should be pushing each other. You are an MP, I am a civilian. If we are pushing each other to up the ante, what’s wrong with that?”

He said the residents had spent hours and thousands of ringgit on research, professional advice and visits to various government agencies, while Kok now had direct access to government sources and resources.

“The very least she can do is sit down with us and talk. We will gladly share our research with her as the MP.”

Phang added that they wanted to stop the overdevelopment before it became a “monster” that could not be undone.