Gerakan sues Penang Chief Minister

https://youtu.be/F895ql1qlU0


https://youtu.be/Hce4MCPbDt0

Party takes Lim to court over Tanjung Pinang land sale remarks

GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan is suing Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over allegations made on the sale of a Tanjung Pinang plot of land, which was reportedly sold for a minimal premium of RM1 per square foot (psf) by Gerakan.

The party, through its secretary-­general Datuk Liang Teck Meng, filed the defamation suit in a George Town court yesterday and named Lim as the sole defendant.

The party is seeking general damages, exemplary damages, aggravated damages, costs, interests, reliefs and for Lim to publish an apology.

In the statement of claim made available to the press, the party said Lim had allegedly uttered defamatory remarks against Gerakan through reports carried by several social media platforms, including media statements and articles.

According to the statement of claim, one publication reported Lim as alleging that the previous Barisan Nasional administration had sold a plot of prime land in Tanjung Pinang for a minimal premium of RM1 psf.

The report in an online portal article dated March 17, 2013, claimed the previous administration led by Gerakan had approved the reclamation of 940 acres (380.4ha) at RM1 psf, with 10% of the land to be given to the state government.

Liang, accompanied by counsel Datuk Baljit Singh and other Gerakan members, claimed that Lim’s statements had painted an impression that the previous leadership under former chief minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon had disregarded the interests of Penangites by selling the land below market price.

Taking action: Liang (right) leaving the George Town Court with Baljit (second from left) and other Gerakan members after filing the suit.

Asked why Gerakan had waited so long before filing the suit, Liang said it was because people had started to believe Lim’s statements.

“When he repeated the accusations, some people started to believe them. I think it is a serious form of defamation. That is why we have to take action,” he told a press conference after filing the suit.

Further asked why Koh did not file the suit, Liang said Koh had already retired but could be a witness to the suit.

https://youtu.be/yaG_FwH-6jQ

At a press conference later, Lim said the suit was filed as political capital in view of the upcoming general election.

“They are suing me four years after I made the statement. Usually, a lawsuit is done within the shortest time possible and not after four years. I will leave the matter to my lawyers and let the court decide.

“I will also ask my lawyers whether it is possible for a state government to sue for defamation, as usually defamation refers to defaming an individual and not a government,” he told reporters after the investiture ceremony at Dewan Sri Pinang here.

Source: The Star/ANN

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Would DAP join BN to ensure Chinese representation in the Malaysian government?

The DAP is open to suggestions on the need for Chinese representation in the government and will respond to them later, advisor Lim Kit Siang said here Thursday.

"There seems to be a lot of suggestions and proposals. We (will) give them time to come out with suggestions. We will wait and see," Lim told a press conference when asked to comment on calls for the DAP to join Barisan Nasional (BN) to ensure Chinese representation in the government.

Former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin yesterday said this would obviously be difficult for DAP and BN and their supporters, but needs to be done in the interest of harmony and political stability in the country.

MCA central executive committee member Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan in an interview with Sin Chew Daily yesterday said the DAP can represent the Chinese community's interest at federal government level.

In 13th general election (GE13), BN won 133 parliamentary seats out of the 222 at stake to again form the government with a simple majority, while Pakatan Rakyat took 89 seats.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who took his oath of office as Prime Minister before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Monday is short of Chinese candidates for his new Cabinet.

This is because BN component the MCA, which only won seven of the 37 parliamentary seats contested has decided to forgo Cabinet representation.

Meanwhile, Gerakan deputy president Datuk Chang Ko Youn said the party will not follow the MCA by rejecting all government posts.

Gerakan won only one parliamentary seat and three state seats. It had contested in 11 parliamentary and 31 state seats nationwide.

-- BERNAMA

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What a letdown - only 0.89% Malaysians living abroad can vote!

After all the brouhaha to get Malaysians living abroad the right to vote, only a dismal 6,268 out of over 700,000 have registered as postal voters.



IT'S disappointing, especially after all the brouhaha over giving all Malaysians living abroad the right to vote.

It has now been reported that only a dismal 6,268 Malaysians out of over 700,000 living abroad have registered as postal voters. There are some who think there could be as many as a million Malaysians abroad.

The Elections Commission (EC) had estimated that there would be at least 100,000 or even 200,000 overseas Malaysians who would register.

The criteria are fairly simple they have to be registered as voters first and have been in Malaysia not less than 30 days in the last five years before the dissolution of Parliament.

Objectively, no one can say that not enough time has been given. The worst excuse I have heard is that the Elections Commission website broke down last week and this made many who are overseas unable to register as postal voters.

This was reported in the pro-opposition Malaysiakini news portal. Surely, if you are seriously concerned with the developments in this country, you would have taken the trouble to register yourself much earlier.

It does not matter if you are overseas or in Malaysia. If one feels so strongly about what is taking place in Malaysia and wants to change the government, the obvious thing would be to ensure the change takes place via the ballot box.

Since the 2008 general election, it has been a long drawn campaign by both sides. Never has political awareness been so high.

That probably explains why there are 2.9 million new voters all first-timers and mostly below 40 years old out of the country's 13 million electorate. That's one out of five voters taking part in this general election.

It does not matter whether these new voters want to throw out this government or keep the status quo. The most important point is that they believe they can make a difference. They believe passionately that talk is cheap and that they will let their votes do the walking.

The call to allow overseas Malaysians to vote was on the agenda of Bersih, and two platforms MyOverseasVote and Bersih Global were set up to facilitate overseas Malaysians to register as postal voters.

Early this year, the EC announced that Malaysians residing overseas, except in Singapore, southern Thailand, Kalimantan and Brunei, would be allowed to apply to vote by post provided that they have been in Malaysia for at least 30 days in total during the last five years.

We have heard the arguments before there are those who claim that those who have been abroad too long do not understand what is taking place in Malaysia while many overseas Malaysians have ridiculed such arguments, saying that they follow events back home closely via the Internet.

Others suggest that the large number of overseas Malaysians are mostly non-Malays who are critical of Barisan Nasional and are likely to vote for the opposition.

They include many who have migrated because of their unhappiness over the affirmative action programmes that favour the bumiputras.

This argument does not hold water because the reality is that even if Pakatan Rakyat wins, the same affirmative actions will continue. Not even the DAP has dared to ask for these special rights to be removed.

While we do not know if the low number of overseas Malaysians registered to vote as postal voters is due to their indifference or because they still find the procedure cumbersome, the EC must continue to improve its mechanism to ensure a bigger turnout.

The reality is that more and more Malaysians, especially the young, will work overseas because travelling has now become cheaper, faster and easier.

Many Malaysians work in Jakarta, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou or Bangkok while they keep their Malaysian permanent address.

Many companies have also become more global in their set-up and send talented Malaysians to work in their regional hubs.

Unlike the older Malaysians who packed off with their families for a new life abroad, most young Malaysians are often single and live jet-setting lives.

They are not necessarily the grumbling and whining types who run down Malaysia. They may enjoy life overseas but deep in their hearts, they miss the many good things in this country.

These younger and more mobile Malaysians keep their minds open and while they are critical, they also make better evaluation of the issues.

This will be the new overseas Malaysians in the coming years. Make it easier for them to cast their votes in the coming general elections.

■ For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

On the Beat by WONG CHUN WAI

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PAS-led govt cheques to schools dishonoured!

ALOR SETAR: The PAS-led government made a major blunder when it handed out RM229,000 in allocations to 58 Tamil schools in the state four days ago.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Bakar gave out the cheques to the Parent-Teacher Association representatives of the schools. However, the cheques could not be cashed.

The cheques, dated Dec 31, 2012, had a three-month validity period until March 31, but were only distributed on April 2.

Many of the PTA representatives were shocked by the timing of the handover and left wondering if it was an attempt to ensure Indians' support for Pakatan Rakyat.

Kedah DAP committee member S. Neelamekan described it as an “an unwanted embarrassment” to the government.

“The state government should have been more careful and avoid being ridiculed by Barisan (Nasional),” he said. “The cheques must be replaced as soon as possible.”

State executive councillor S. Manikumar has since apologised to the schools for the mistake.

“The cheques were prepared last December and were rendered invalid because they did not bear the signature of the State Financial Officer,” he said.  “We apologise for the technical error.

“However, we have already asked the school PTAs to exchange the cheques with new ones from the state finance office,” he added.

Manikumar said the contribution was for school activities and programmes, adding that the schools received between RM3,000 and RM10,000 each, depending on the size of the enrolment.

MIC Baling division Youth chief M.A. Ramasamy said this bungle clearly showed weaknesses in the Kedah state administration.

He said each of the schools was given RM10,000 during the previous rule under Barisan.

By SIRA HABIBU  sira@thestar.com.my