MCA and DAP clash in ceramah within earshot
SEMENYIH POLLS | Police pulled the plug on two ceramah held by MCA and DAP respectively, with stages within earshot, at eateries in Semenyih tonight.
This came after a group of unhappy Pakatan Harapan supporters approached a BN truck where MCA's Tee Seng Sein in his speech criticised DAP's Teo Nie Chieng on Chinese education issues.
SEMENYIH POLLS | Police pulled the plug on two ceramah held by MCA and DAP respectively, with their stages within earshot, at eateries in Semenyih tonight.
This came after a group of unhappy Pakatan Harapan supporters approached a BN truck where MCA's Tee Seng Sein, in his speech, criticised DAP's Teo Nie Chieng on Chinese education issues.
Police officers immediately blocked the Harapan supporters from approaching the truck which was used as a stage, while another officer stepped onto the stage to stop Tee from speaking.
The authorities first asked MCA to stop its ceramah and told DAP to do the same.
Then one MCA member shouted: "The government suppresses people from speaking."
An Election Commission (EC) enforcement officer, who declined to be named, earlier told Malaysiakini that both Harapan and BN obtained police permits to hold their ceramah.
The officer admitted he felt something was not right and sought help from the police.
Harapan's stage was set in an open space at Vista Valley Semenyih, while BN's truck was parked at Jalan Vista 3 - about 100 meters away.
The customers of the hawkers' centre were mainly local Chinese and most appeared supportive of Harapan.
They constantly booed MCA speakers led by party secretary-general Chew Mei Fun (photo).
Harapan speakers were Teo and Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.
When approached by Malaysiakini, Chew said BN's truck has been at this particular location every day.
Some 300 people at the eateries were bombarded by messages and exchanges of speakers from both side.
At one point, Pasir Gudang MCA division chief Tan Tuan Peng asked how much more "rubbish" would be collected from Umno and recruited by Bersatu.
"What can be done by PKR if Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) has no plan to relinquish his premiership in two years?" Tan asked.
"If the political scenario is to continue, it would crush the country's economy!"
On the Harapan stage, the coalition’s Sungai Pelek state assemblyperson Ronnie Liu said the people who reject racism should not vote for the BN candidate for Semenyih, Zakaria Hanafi.
Liu cited cooperation between PAS and Umno and the racial remarks made by BN secretary-general Nazri Abdul Aziz, who claimed the Harapan government was weak and it had surrendered Malay privileges to others.
Seri Kembangan lawmaker Ean Yong Hian Wah (photo, above) slammed MCA for keeping silent during the 1MDB financial fiasco.
An MCA speaker from the party’s Subang division retorted by asking Ean Yong for the progress on investigations of the cause of death of his former political secretary Teoh Beng Hock.
When Kit Siang took to the stage, he slammed Nazri for being racist by questioning the appointment of non-Malays to top government posts, including the attorney-general Tommy Thomas, chief justice Richard Malanjun and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
"Is it wrong to have a Chinese as the finance minister?" asked Lim.
Another MCA speaker then asked: "Uncle Lim Kit Siang, (do you believe when) when your son said that inflation was recorded at one percent ?"
"How could he become the finance minister when the economy is in a mess?" the MCA speaker asked.
Kit Siang then rebutted that MCA last held the finance minister post in 1976 and since then, nobody in the Chinese-based party has been as good as (former MCA president and former finance minister) Tan Siew Sin.
Similarly, Lim defended the appointments of the attorney-general and chief justice.
At this point, another MCA speaker described the finance minister as a mere bookkeeper.
MCA speakers were unperturbed despite the constant boos from the audience.
Yong Poh Onn, a DAP veteran from Kajang, riled up the crowd when he accused MCA of being emasculated by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"We have to take care of ours, they have been castrated and hung up there, so they dare not to speak up.
"Do you guys agree what I say, if you agree then boo them!" Yong said in Hakka, a common Chinese dialect in Semenyih.
When it came to Teo's turn to speak, speakers from the MCA stage threw barbs at her over Chinese education issues.
At one point, she was slammed for "not being Chinese." Teo is the deputy education minister.
