KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang claimed Tanjung Piai by-election MCA candidate Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng did not attend a press conference yesterday due to controversy over the latter’s Facebook post.

He said on Wednesday shortly before 8pm, Wee posted an article on his Facebook reading ‘MCA unites to oppose Jawi’ but subsequently after 4.30pm yesterday, this was amended to ‘MCA unites to oppose the addition of Jawi khat (calligraphy) in the Bahasa Malaysia curriculum in Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools’.

“Jeck Seng knew that if he had attended the media conference, he would be asked by the media to explain a number of things,” said Lim in a statement.

He questioned why Wee first put up the original posting, and why he seemingly bowed down to pressure from Umno and PAS to amend it.

Advertisement

“Secondly, Jeck Seng would be further asked with regard to his amended posting as to why he had not objected to the addition of Jawi khat (calligraphy) in the Bahasa Malaysia curriculum in Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools, which first happened during his two terms as Member of Parliament for Tanjung Piai.

“We are not saints and we are capable of making mistakes. Is there anything wrong with Jeck Seng admitting that he had been wrong to put up his original posting, that the pressure from Umno and PAS was too powerful for him to resist, and that he had to back-track, withdraw and amend his Facebook post?” Lim said.

The Iskandar Puteri MP went on to refer to the Education Ministry Curriculum Committee meeting held on September 21, 2015, which was chaired by then-Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, and attended by his two deputies Datuk Chong Sin Woon and Datuk P. Kamalanathan.

Advertisement

“It would lead to questions about the meeting which decided that new Bahasa Malaysia textbooks for Chinese and Tamil primary schools would introduce Jawi subject for Standard Four pupils in 2020.

“This would mean the claims by MCA leaders that they did not know about the proposal to have Jawi in Standard Four Bahasa Malaysia textbooks for Chinese and Tamil primary schools were simply lies and do not stand up to examination,” he said.

In turn, Lim argued that MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong would also be put on the spot since he was a Cabinet minister under former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the time, adding the latter cannot claim to have no knowledge of this as well.

“Jeck Seng disappeared from the last and most important MCA media conference yesterday because all these facts would have to come out, which is not in favour of MCA leaders or its leaders,” he said.