First a Chinese Perkasa, now bosom buddies?
Lee Way LoonPublished: Jul 19, 2010 11:56 AM | Updated: Jul 20, 2010 4:23 AM
MCA central committee member Teh Kim Poh has found himself in an awkward position after photos depicting him at an Umno-led sand mining demonstration against the Selangor government are now making their rounds on the Internet.
MCA central committee member Teh Kim Poh has found himself in an awkward position after photos depicting him at an Umno-led sand mining demonstration against the Selangor government are now making their rounds on the Internet.
The photos depict Teh perched prominently on top of a pickup truck along with demonstration leaders, some of whom, netizens claim, were leaders of Malay rights pressure group Perkasa, who have recently made top MCA leaders their dart board.
Perkasa, for instance, made a meal of MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong for his comments on ensuring government scholarships for non-bumiputra students.
Following this, their inaugural newsletter Suara Perkasa front-paged a call for Wee’s detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for the remarks.
Perkasa has riled MCA so much its president Chua Soi Lek has urged the BN leadership to cut ties with Perkasa because its ideals went against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.
It is thus ironic that an MCA leader would appear alongside their biggest enemy.
A Malaysiakini reader emailed in a photo collage depicting Teh at the demonstration, along with the memorandum that the protestors had handed the Selangor government over the illegal sand mining controversy.
The memorandum bore Teh’s signature along with those of Selangor opposition leader Khir Toyo and Abdullah Mansor, a representative from the Selangor branch of Perkasa
The email author sarcastically said that the document showed that “MCA was now in cahoots with Perkasa”.
'I’d do it again'
When contacted, Teh (left in photo, at demonstration) said there was nothing wrong with his participation in the demonstration because he was there to protest against the state government.
He claimed that he was there because it was organised by Umno, a BN component party, and was unaware that Perkasa was involved.
“I didn’t know Perkasa was represented until I got there,” he said.
Teh said that he would not hesitate to work with Perkasa in the future if it was over an issue of public interest.
“We were demonstrating against the Selangor government’s handling of the illegal sand mining issue... Perkasa came for the same issue, so there is nothing wrong with demonstrating alongside them,” he said.
This is the second time Teh has courted controversy over the past week.
Heckled during speech
According to a Guang Ming Daily report on Sunday, Teh was heckled during a dinner function at a primary school in Klang for criticising the state government during his speech.
The report said the embarrassed Teh retorted, “As a politician, what else am I supposed to talk about other than politics?”
This led to even more jeers, resulting in Teh storming off the stage, but not before delivering this parting words, “Don’t invite me (to speak) any more in the future”.
However, dinner organisers later apologised to Teh, who later accepted it.
The photos depict Teh perched prominently on top of a pickup truck along with demonstration leaders, some of whom, netizens claim, were leaders of Malay rights pressure group Perkasa, who have recently made top MCA leaders their dart board.Perkasa, for instance, made a meal of MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong for his comments on ensuring government scholarships for non-bumiputra students.
Following this, their inaugural newsletter Suara Perkasa front-paged a call for Wee’s detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for the remarks.
Perkasa has riled MCA so much its president Chua Soi Lek has urged the BN leadership to cut ties with Perkasa because its ideals went against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.
It is thus ironic that an MCA leader would appear alongside their biggest enemy.
A Malaysiakini reader emailed in a photo collage depicting Teh at the demonstration, along with the memorandum that the protestors had handed the Selangor government over the illegal sand mining controversy.
The memorandum bore Teh’s signature along with those of Selangor opposition leader Khir Toyo and Abdullah Mansor, a representative from the Selangor branch of Perkasa
The email author sarcastically said that the document showed that “MCA was now in cahoots with Perkasa”.
'I’d do it again'
When contacted, Teh (left in photo, at demonstration) said there was nothing wrong with his participation in the demonstration because he was there to protest against the state government.He claimed that he was there because it was organised by Umno, a BN component party, and was unaware that Perkasa was involved.
“I didn’t know Perkasa was represented until I got there,” he said.
Teh said that he would not hesitate to work with Perkasa in the future if it was over an issue of public interest.
“We were demonstrating against the Selangor government’s handling of the illegal sand mining issue... Perkasa came for the same issue, so there is nothing wrong with demonstrating alongside them,” he said.
This is the second time Teh has courted controversy over the past week.
Heckled during speech
According to a Guang Ming Daily report on Sunday, Teh was heckled during a dinner function at a primary school in Klang for criticising the state government during his speech.
The report said the embarrassed Teh retorted, “As a politician, what else am I supposed to talk about other than politics?”
This led to even more jeers, resulting in Teh storming off the stage, but not before delivering this parting words, “Don’t invite me (to speak) any more in the future”.
However, dinner organisers later apologised to Teh, who later accepted it.
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