KOTA KINABALU, May 3 — Bersih 2.0 should listen to Lim Guan Eng’s speech first before comparing him to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said Sabah DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin.
Chan said that if the electoral watchdog had listened to the original speech, it would have realised that Lim was making a reference to the problem of insufficient parking at Sandakan Hospital and was talking about what DAP candidate Vivian Wong could do if she won the Sandakan by-election.
“Has Bersih 2.0 seen the original speech by Lim Guan Eng before issuing their statement? If not, please do watch it first before commenting. The original speech is in Chinese, so I would also advise Bersih 2.0 to get a proper Chinese translator who is able to do a proper translation carrying the right meaning,” Chan said in a statement.
The state finance minister said he received feedback from the public that parking at the hospital was inadequate, and in response, Lim said that he had not included the hospital parking lot plan because it was deemed to be excessive for federal funding.
“Lim then said that if Vivian Wong was elected, then she could raise the issue with him. If she is not elected, then she would not be able to do so (as MP). That’s it, no more, no less,” said Chan.
He pointed out that in comparison, Najib had during the Sibu by-election in 2010, said: “Do we have a deal or not? We do. You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win. If Robert Lau becomes the MP, on Monday, I’ll ask the cheque to be prepared.”
In this respect, Chan said: “It is clear that there is a huge difference between Najib’s speech and Lim’s speech. Lim never made any offer to build the parking lot, and Lim also did not threaten to not build the parking lot.
“Bersih should not buy into the lies spread by the opposition. They should be more cautious in issuing statements like this as it may badly damage DAP’s reputation as though DAP is using the same tactics that BN had used previously,” he said.
Chan said that an uncut and unedited recording of the entire speech by Lim on May 27, including Lim’s allegedly offensive speech, was available online on Wong’s Facebook page and that the public could watch the entire speech again and judge for themselves whether he had made what Bersih 2.0 alleged to be a ‘you help me, I help you’ speech like Najib did in the Sibu by-election.
The controversial statement was picked up by Astro AEC news and used on a billboard by rival Parti Bersatu Sabah in Sandakan. The Election Commission, however, took down the billboard shortly after.
The police are currently investigating the matter under Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace.
