DAP will continue to champion the reopening of SJKC Damansara despite being 'backstabbed' at a recent fund raiser, said its chairperson Lim Kit Siang.

Lim said in a statement that he submitted a question on the school's status to the Education Ministry for this month's parliamentary sitting, which begins today.

In his question, the veteran politician called on the ministry to specify the date for the re-opening of the school on its original site or explain the plans for the school should the government insist otherwise.

Although DAP MPs felt 'stabbed in the back', Lim said the party will continue with its efforts to re-open the school.

He stressed the importance of the issue as it embodied the problem of insufficient Chinese primary schools to meet the exponential demand.

Boycott

Four DAP leaders had boycotted the fund raiser after the ad-hoc committee SOS Damansara, comprising villagers in the area, invited Gerakan state assemblyperson Dr Lim Thuang Seng to be the guest of honour.

The DAP leaders claimed that it was undue recognition for the Gerakan leader as his party had not contributed to the committee's struggle.

However, SOS Damansara said it had not forgotten DAP's contributions and stressed that it was just being apolitical in the matter.

The school was closed down in 2001 after the government found it to be no longer condusive. A new premises was later opened at nearby Tropicana.

However, villagers, Chinese education groups and NGOs, protested the move, saying that a branch school should be established instead of closing the original school.

Following this, a group of students continue to study in makeshift containers at a temple, located next to the original site of the school as a sign of protest.

In another development, Lim said he will ask Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in today's parliamentary sitting to disclose the number of Malaysian fishermen kidnapped by pirates in the Straits

Among other questions which he plans to raise includes former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 'gift' to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, the status of Lim's reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) on former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik, the status of the 18 high profile individuals investigated by the ACA and if the government would introduce a single university entrance exam to reflect a true meritocractic system.