Twitter war over RM3 million by-election promise

DAP’s Lim Kit Siang has questioned the ‘Twitterverse’ silence of Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong over the promised RM3 million allocation for SRK (C) Rasa in Hulu Selangor.

However, Wee has lobbed the criticism right back, assuring that the pledge will be fulfilled tomorrow.

The promise was made by premier Najib Abdul Razak during a visit to the school on the last lap of his campaigning for the Hulu Selangor by-election.

He said the money would be conditional on BN winning the by-election - which it did last Sunday.

At a press conference today, Lim (right) lashed out at Wee and the MCA leadership for failing to make sure that the promise will be kept.

He explained that he had challenged Wee on Twitter to ensure delivery of the money but that the latter "disappeared from the Twitterverse...and did not react to my five tweets".

"Can we expect all the MCA ministers and national leadership led by the MCA president today to make a public stand on the RM3 million cheque?" he asked.

"For a party which claims to be the second-largest Chinese party in the world, they have fallen so low."

In an immediate reaction, Wee tweeted Lim: ‘PM will deliver the cheque of RM3mil to SJKC Rasa tmr, @limkitsiang what say u? I told u yesterday n yet u expose our convers'tn to media, Y’.

When contacted, Wee confirmed that the premier will personally hand over the cheque to the school tomorrow.

"The school’s board members will meet with the PM. He will give them the cheque. They informed me about this because they are so happy."

Wee added that only the PM and the board members will be involved.

"I will not be there. The important thing is that the PM will keep his word. He is a gentleman and he honours his promises."

Wee (right) dismissed the delay as irrelevant, saying that such matters "need time to process...what is important is to move ahead".

Quizzed about Lim’s Twitter postings, Wee said that the former should ‘stop talking rubbish’.

"The issue is being handled by the PM's Department, it has nothing to do with my ministry. This is his attempt to politicise and spin the issue," he said.

"I know the conversation is on Twitter, but it is a private conversation between me and him. He should inform me before revealing it."