MCA VP: Party 'spies' targeted me

MCA vice-president Donald Lim Siang Chai said he was among those targeted by a clandestine group of ‘spies’ allegedly delegated to snoop on the political enemies of MCA president Ong Ka Ting.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, the former Petaling Jaya Selatan MP admitted he had received information to that effect, but said he was still in the midst of ascertaining the veracity - or otherwise - of the claims.

“I was informed that there is (such) a group. It is something that has made me very concerned. Definitely, I will want to find out more. I am checking around to see whether this is true or not.

“If it is true, then those who are responsible will definitely be taken to task by MCA members because this is something that is bad, especially if you go looking into people’s private affairs,” he said at his former services centre in Petaling Jaya.

“I was informed not long ago that I am one of the targets of this spying group,” he added.

Lim’s statement came on the heels of claims by several figures within MCA reported earlier this week pertaining to the existence of this group. They said it was formed about three years ago to pry into the private lives of and dig up dirt on a senior official’s political rivals.

The most prominent casualty of their machinations, it was claimed, was former MCA vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek.

'On my own side'

Chua abruptly quit all his party posts - and as health minister - in January after a video tape was circulated of his sexual liaison with a ‘personal friend’. Chua has said he believed his political enemies were behind the tape controversy.

Lim, however, denied he was against any other ‘side’ when questioned about the matter. “I’m on my own side. I'm entitled to my own opinion,” he said.

Last May, Ka Ting had appointed Ch’ng Toh Eng to replace him as Selangor MCA chairperson - a position Ka Ting had held since September 2002.

The move had by-passed Lim, then the deputy Selangor chairperson, and was seen as an effort to place Ka Ting’s men at the helm of the party’s state committee.

Denying he had been “dropped”, Lim said he stepped down as deputy state chairperson in order to “make life easier” for Ch’ng and to save “the party’s face.”

“If I continued to be the deputy chairman of Selangor, it would have looked very bad on the party and on me. So I was saving the party’s face. I was not dropped,” he said.

Lim refused to directly comment on or assess the leadership of Ka Ting and his brother Ong Ka Chuan - who is MCA secretary-general and who replaced Ka Ting as housing and local government minister.

Lim did, however, call for leadership change to restore the people’s loss of confidence in the party.

This is all the more so in light of MCA’s dismal performance in the 12th General Election through which the people showed how they feel with regards to Barisan Nasional, in general, and MCA in particular, he said.

“They feel that they cannot trust the leadership. The only way to overcome all this is to change. We have to listen to what the people want,” he said.

Lim also said the party should not be a private company for anyone to treat as their own.

“When you do it, you can see the results,” he said.

A campaign was launched in Perak last Sunday calling for the end of the ‘Ong dynasty’ and the call by grassroots Selangor MCA leaders last month for Ka Ting’s resignation.

Right to express views

He also cited the resignation late last year of US banking giant Citigroup Inc’s chairman and chief executive officier Charles Prince after the company lost billions of dollars following bad investments.

“He (Prince) could not tell the shareholders, ‘Sorry, lah, during my studies in school and college, I never came across such thing as sub-prime mortgages. Can you give me one more chance? I'll make sure this time I'm more careful,” Lim said.

He also did not say anything directly in support or against the ‘Save MCA’ campaign except to say that party members had the right to express their opinions. He asked that he be given until after the July division elections before stating his own plans for the future.

“I think at this juncture, because the party elections is another six months away, let me have a little bit of time to take a break and think of my next move. I'm taking a break next week. I will think about it,” he said.

When asked about the possibilities of contesting, Lim hinted that he was indeed considering a shot at either the party’s president or deputy-president post.

“I will not disappoint you all,” he said.

On matters outside the MCA, Lim said the March 8 polls’ results was a culmination of BN’s failure to develop a decision-making process that efficiently and effectively addressed the main issues and concerns that people are faced with.

In addition to inter-party rivalry such as between MCA and Gerakan as parties representing the Chinese community, BN was also proving to be unwieldy as a result of having too many parties as a whole, said Lim.

“I’m proposing that Gerakan and MCA merge,” said Lim.

“If that does not happen, BN should consider only MCA, because it makes life simpler for everyone,” he added.