Koh upset over Lim's lack of courtesy

In yet another chapter of mudslinging between the old and new in Penang, former chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon accused his successor Lim Guan Eng of being discourteous to Gerakan.

Koh was of the opinion that Lim has been ‘gulping all the credit’ when he announced two high profile investments into Penang, amounting to more than RM1.3 billion.

He alleged that the DAP chief minister has been ignoring the strong groundwork laid by his previous administration, adding that Lim's behaviour could be described as 'opportunistic'.

Ibiden Co Ltd, a world leading Japanese printer circuit board manufacturer is investing RM1.2 billion, and another RM115 million is coming in from American Honeywell, a global leader in the aerospace industry.

Lim’s DAP whitewashed Koh’s Gerakan in the March 8 election, relegating the party which ran Penang for 28 years to zero seats in Penang’s state assembly.

Gerakan is now struggling with a low presence nationally and abandoning members.

Koh emphasised that in the past he openly expressed his appreciation to all who helped bring high profile investments to Penang.

“The present government is claiming all the credit, something I have never done,” the former CM said.

He shared this after speaking at a monthly business talk organised by Penang Gerakan’s small and medium industries bureau. This was Koh’s first public appraisal of Lim’s state government.

This state government, he said, lacked courtesy.

Koh’s former political secretary Mark Ooi Swee Hing has previously criticised Lim’s government of riding on a success story fashioned by Koh. He said the present chief minister unashamedly hogs the headlines built by others.

Lim has fired back saying that Ooi was off the mark in his analysis.

DAP chairperson Karpal Singh has also said his piece, asking Koh and Gerakan to heed the voice of the voters and accept the fact that they have lost the elections.

Work with BN

Earlier in his speech, Koh reminded the five Pakatan Rakyat state governments in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Selangor to develop close working relationship with the BN federal government to enable them to execute their project plans effectively in their respective states.

Without federal funding, he cautioned, it would be difficult for the state governments to carry out their tasks, recalling a similar difficult situation faced by Gerakan during its initial years as an ‘opposition’ party ruling Penang between 1969 and 1972.

Gerakan was an opposition party when it defeated MCA in 1969 and took over the governing of Penang. Gerakan’s first chief minister of Penang, Lim Chong Eu decided to bring the party into the national coalition in 1972, after struggling as an opposition state.

“If the Pakatan Rakyat state governments were to keep bashing up previous state governments and be at loggerhead with the federal government, it would be difficult for them to perform well,” he cautioned.

He also brushed aside fears that foreign investors would shy away following international news reports that classified Malaysia as a politically unstable country as uncertainty looms over Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s reign.

“Unlike the stock market, which is always sensitive and tend to over-react to political rumours, investors would not be perturbed by it.

“They are influenced by economic fundamentals, which are strong in Malaysia,” he said.