Tycoon distances himself from Najib's appearance at WCEF
Property tycoon Lee Kim Yew has distanced himself from the World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF), which recently courted controversy for inviting former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak as a keynote speaker.
In a statement, Lee said while he was among WCEF's founders, he was no longer with the organisation as he branched off to form the World Chinese Economic Summit in 2015, which has morphed into the Global Chinese Economic and Technology Summit this year...
Updated at 9.20pm | WCEF co-founder Lee Kim Yew says he's embarrassed, yet flattered.
Property tycoon Lee Kim Yew has distanced himself from the World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF), which recently courted controversy for inviting former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak as a keynote speaker.
In a statement, Lee said while he was among WCEF's founders, he was no longer with the organisation as he branched off to form the World Chinese Economic Summit in 2015, which has morphed into the Global Chinese Economic and Technology Summit this year.
Lee said WCEF was founded by him in 2009 and supported by businessman Michael Yeo. The International Strategy Institute (ISI), which Yeo founded, is now the flagbearer for WCEF.
"This time, they (WCEF) invited the former prime minister to that forum, a convicted criminal awaiting outcome of an appeal. Surely they caught media attention, and I was also misunderstood.
"I need to make my stand clear, we must respect the judiciary and uphold the rule of law in Malaysia. To involve him in this 'new' WCEF, which is not organised by me, is a huge embarrassment to me.
"I am a citizen who pays great attention to the Rukun Negara," Lee said.
He was embarrassed, he added, because he was confronted by friends on whether he had invited Najib to the WCEF.
Lee explained that the WCEF organisers had been using the name for the past two years and should not do so.
"On the one hand, this incident made me feel embarrassed, and on the other, it made me feel flattered.
"It shows that the name of the WCEF, which I initiated at the beginning, has a strong influence, and its positive energy inspires many people to participate, but I strongly oppose plagiarism," Lee said.
This year's WCEF saw Najib delivering the keynote address, and he will be the guest of honour during the gala dinner and award ceremony tonight.
In July last year, Najib was convicted by the High Court on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power.
This was after prosecutors proved that Najib pocketed RM42 million from state-owned SRC International Sdn Bhd.
On Dec 7, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and remarked that Najib's action was not done in the nation's interest but instead caused a "national embarrassment".
Najib will seek a review of the decision in the Federal Court.
ISI issues statement
In a separate statement later, the International Strategy Institute (ISI) described Lee’s remarks as “factually incorrect to the point of being libellous” as they said Yeo has been the organising chairperson for the past WCEF events.
Yeo was also instrumental in developing the WCEF events under ISI, which are the 10th and 11th WCEF events, with the current one being a special edition.
The last WCEF event, they said, was the 11th one which was held in 2019 in Hangzhou, China.
“We are the rightful organiser of the 2021 World Chinese Economic Forum, an annual event which we have been organising since 2018 in Malaysia for the 10t h WCEF event.
“Our current chairperson is also the registered trademark of the WCEF,” they said.
They added that the 2021 WCEF is co-hosted with the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) and the One Belt One Road Association (PMOBOR).
The selection of the speakers for the event was also made by the three joint hosts.
“This has nothing to do with Lee for that matter.
“We also wish to state that the 2021 World Chinese Economic Forum has no connection with the World Chinese Economic Summit or the Global Chinese Economic and Technology Summit.
“We wish to state that the 2021 WCEF has nothing to do with Lee and if more incorrect and unwarranted statements comes from Lee, we shall refer it to our solicitors to take appropriate action,” they said.
