Ling urged to tell truth about resignation issue
Yoon Szu-MaePublished: May 9, 2001 10:22 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
MCA president Ling Liong Sik's decision to resign as transport minister, which did not ultimately take place, cannot be treated as an internal party matter, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said in a statement today.
Kerk, who is also MP for Kota Melaka, called on Ling to "reveal the truth about the rumour which has made him want to resign his Cabinet position but not the MCA top party post".
The "rumour" that Kerk is requesting an explanation is whether the letter of demand served to Ling from the legal firm representing business entrepreneur Soh Chee Wen is related to Ling's intention to resign ("[#1]Ling dismisses debt claim as 'false and incorrect'[/#]" (June 14).
"Although no one is prepared to come out in the open to deny or confirm the public rumour, Ling and top MCA leaders are certainly fully aware of talk alleging that Ling's resignation is related to Soh.
"If Ling had wanted to relinquish MCA presidency it may be treated as an internal party matter, but his decision to resign from the post of transport minister is different altogether," Kerk stressed.
According to him, this is so because the conflicting reasons given by Ling for resigning have hurt those who have been painted as hungry for a Cabinet post, and have fooled those who have come out to express support for him for the wrong reasons.
Meanwhile, KeADILan vice president Chua Tian Chang (also known as Tian Chua) said that Ling should have resigned for the sharp bus fare hike announced early this week.
The new rates will cover all bus services - stage, express and minibus - ranging from 21 percent to as high as 45 percent.
"Ling should resign precisely for this reason rather than due to the internal conflicts of MCA," said Chua.
He said that the decision of allowing the increase of bus fare on the ground of rising operation cost is unjustifiable since it contradicts the said objective of the bus companies merger plan, which claims a more cost efficient solution for public transportation services by reducing operational cost.
"We afraid that the ill-thought plan would only benefit two crony companies at the expense of the general public," said Chua.
Kerk, who is also MP for Kota Melaka, called on Ling to "reveal the truth about the rumour which has made him want to resign his Cabinet position but not the MCA top party post".
The "rumour" that Kerk is requesting an explanation is whether the letter of demand served to Ling from the legal firm representing business entrepreneur Soh Chee Wen is related to Ling's intention to resign ("[#1]Ling dismisses debt claim as 'false and incorrect'[/#]" (June 14).
"Although no one is prepared to come out in the open to deny or confirm the public rumour, Ling and top MCA leaders are certainly fully aware of talk alleging that Ling's resignation is related to Soh.
"If Ling had wanted to relinquish MCA presidency it may be treated as an internal party matter, but his decision to resign from the post of transport minister is different altogether," Kerk stressed.
According to him, this is so because the conflicting reasons given by Ling for resigning have hurt those who have been painted as hungry for a Cabinet post, and have fooled those who have come out to express support for him for the wrong reasons.
Meanwhile, KeADILan vice president Chua Tian Chang (also known as Tian Chua) said that Ling should have resigned for the sharp bus fare hike announced early this week.
The new rates will cover all bus services - stage, express and minibus - ranging from 21 percent to as high as 45 percent.
"Ling should resign precisely for this reason rather than due to the internal conflicts of MCA," said Chua.
He said that the decision of allowing the increase of bus fare on the ground of rising operation cost is unjustifiable since it contradicts the said objective of the bus companies merger plan, which claims a more cost efficient solution for public transportation services by reducing operational cost.
"We afraid that the ill-thought plan would only benefit two crony companies at the expense of the general public," said Chua.
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