When the Ong faction split asunder at the MCA central committee meeting of Oct. 14 following Ong’s refusal to resign as MCA President despite the passing of a motion of no confidence in his leadership at the Oct. 10 MCA extraordinary general meeting (EGM), Ong wrote in his blog to justify his decision:

“I still have a long list of unfinished business involving Party and public interests, like the direct election of the MCA presidency and the Port Klang Free Zone issue. It is my wish to see such issues be addressed without any abrupt disruption.”

Yesterday, Ong conspicuously omitted any mention of the PKFZ scandal when he reiterated that he had “unfinished work” as reasons for the reconciliation with Chua and Liow to reassemble the ill-fated and short-lived “1MCA-1Team” which he had launched on the eve of the Oct. 10 EGM but had not survived for more than 48 hours.

Is full accountability and transparency for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal a casualty of the latest MCA “greater unity plan” of the Ong, Liow and Chua factions?

Clearly, it will not be the only one.

For some two months in the run-up to the Oct. 10 MCA EGM, the over 2,300 MCA delegates, the Chinese community and the Malaysian people were told that great issues of right and wrong were involved but they have proved to be, as Shakespeare would describe it, “A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.

The roiling MCA crisis provide many salutary lessons why statements by political leaders cannot be taken at their face value. For instance, while Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Umno President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was saying publicly on Tuesday that Najib will not intervene in the MCA leadership crisis unless asked to do so by all members of the MCA Central Committee, top MCA leaders were already trooping into Najib’s presence for a “peace pow-wow” without the knowledge or consent of the MCA central committee members.

The Oct. 10 MCA EGM proved that there were not just two factions – Ong and Chua factions – in the MCA, but also a “third force” causing the EGM to end with a most unprecedented and completely unexpected result, rejecting both Ong and Chua.

But hovering over them is a more powerful force – the “super force” of Umno, as personified by Najib.

The MCA central committee members, the 2,300 delegates, the Malaysian Chinese community and the entire Malaysian people have all been taken for a ride!

There is no need for Ong to thank me as I was lodging a police report more for the public interest to ensure that Cabinet Ministers whether Ong or the others are not threatened by Malaysia’s version of “black gold” politics invoking “dark forces” of politico-business underworld combined with certain Barisan Nasional elements to compromise the integrity of their decision-making process.

However, it would appear that Ong has lodged a police report on a threat to him which is different from the death threat which had been made against Ong much earlier – which means my police report was indeed necessary to protect Ong’s life.

The police report lodged by Ong was over a threat in the form of a note sent to his house warning “Watch Out”.

But this is not the death threat he talked about when interviewed by Sin Chew Daily on 16th July 2009, where he said:

Q: You said you were threatened by people. How did they do it? And by whom?

A: Someone tried to deliver a message through some friends in the secret society, saying that if some day I suddenly disappear from this world, I should know why this has happened.

Clearly, we are referring to two completely different events.

In the case of the threat in the note “Watch Out”, Ong did not know the identities of the person who sent it to him.

But in the case of the death threat delivered to him through “secret society brothers” which read: “If you’re wiped out from this world some day, you should know why this has happened”, Ong knew the identities of the persons involved:

1. the person who sent him the death threat; and
2. the “friends in the secret society” who delivered the death threat to him.

Has Ong told the Police the person who sent him the death threat and the “friends in the secret society” who delivered to him the death threat that he would “disappear from the world”?

So far, Ong has not lodged a police report about the death threat to him that he would “disappear from the world”? Can Ong explain why?

Recently, there has been a sprouting of anonymous “black blogs” to spread lies, half-truths and doctored documents to defame Selangor DAP leaders in the wake of the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock at MACC Headquarters on 16th July 2009.

What is shocking is the involvement of MCA elements in these black blogs, with MCA’s newspaper The Star among Barisan Nasional mainstream media which had played a prominent role in disseminating lies and falsehoods from anonymous “black blogs” which no self-respecting mainstream media would normally touch with a barge-pole.

But in the case of the anonymous black blog, t4tbh.blogspot.com, which told lies and half truths about DAP leaders, particularly from Selangor, the Star was in the forefront of certain mainstream media to promote it with extensive reports of its allegations.

Can the MCA-owned Star explain why it had published eight reports in eight days from July 24 to August 1 to get excuses to disseminate the blog address of the anonymous “black blog” to defame DAP Selangor leaders.

Can the MCA Star explain the double standards in scrupulously omitting mention or report of RPK’s blog post Malaysia Today since July 31 detailing five flights taken by Ong Tee Keat in private jet of Tiong King Sing, boss of KDSB, turnkey developer of Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ)?

Can Ong confirm and if so, explain, these five flights on Tiong’s private jet “all over the place” when he had become Transport Minister? I will ask this question in Parliament if Ong chooses to keep dumb.

In the past week, Ong had alleged in interviews and speeches that “dark forces” of politico-business forces underground and in the Barisan Nasional have threatened his personal safety and tried to compromise the government decision-making process all the way to the Cabinet, especially over the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Ong had made the most serious allegations about corruption and abuses of power in the highest levels of government decision-making all the way to the Cabinet, that corruption had emerged under the Najib premiership from the “darkness” into the open to do their evil work.

Ong claimed that he was now “under siege” from people with vested interests in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, involving BN forces and underground, where he had received death threat delivered him in a message through some “secret society brothers”.

The MCA Sunday Star yesterday reported that the death threat read: “If you’re wiped out from this world some day, you should know why this has happened.”

These revelations by a Cabinet Minister demonstrate multiple serious crimes had been committed not only in the form of death threat to a Cabinet Minister, but the even more heinous crimes that “dark forces” of politico-business network involving the underground and certain elements in Barisan Nasional have compromised the integrity of government decision-making process all the way to the Cabinet, which is completely unacceptable in a country that upholds the rule of law and parliamentary democracy.

I had given Ong 48 hours to lodge police report about the death threat to him as a Cabinet Minister and the extension of dark forces in politico-business network involving the underground and Barisan Nasional elements reaching all the way to the Cabinet, and as Ong has failed to do his public duty, I am lodging a police report to protect Ong’s life and the integrity of government and Cabinet decision-making from being coerced and manipulated by undemocratic and unaccountable “dark forces” which act outside the pale of law and parliamentary democracy.

In my police report, I have also appended the Chinese and English-language media reports carrying Ong’s revelations.

It is Ong who should have lodged this police report, but as he dared not do so, I am performing my public duty to lodge it on his behalf to protect his life and the integrity of the Cabinet and public institutions.

Whatever our political differences, I do not want to see any harm to come to Ong because of his Ministerial actions, however misguided and wrong-headed they are, especially his failure to honour his pledge 15 months ago to “tell all” about the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – in particular how a RM1.088 billion scandal under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister in 2002 could quadruple to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister in 2006 and now set to balloon to a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong.

Let me here extend my assistance and co-operation to Ong, if it is true that he is being victimised by the “dark forces” of politico-business network underground and Barisan Nasional elements.

Let us join forces to expose 100% of the PKFZ scandal instead of Ong trifling with less than 10% expose of the PKFZ scandal in the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report into the PKFZ.

DAP will give Ong 100% backing to expose 100% and not just less than 10% of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

I am prepared to meet Ong any time he is ready to meet me to work out this joining of forces to fully expose the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

Is Ong brave enough to accept this DAP offer of assistance and co-operation, or has the threats, blackmail and death threat he had received from the dark politico-business forces underground and Barisan Nasional have some effect?

Let me advise Ong that if wants to concoct a MCA leadership crisis, he should leave the DAP and me out of his tale of a grand conspiracy against him, as we are simply not interested in the MCA drama – with Ong and MCA Deputy President, Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek competing to claim who is really the real “victim” of a conspiracy.

The tragedy is that the Malaysian public are the real victims of this synthetic MCA leadership crisis – with three MCA Ministers and seven deputy ministers issuing an unprecedented collective statement five days ago pledging single-minded support to Ong.

But support for what? One MCA Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha and one Deputy Minister, Dr. Wee Ka Siong (who is also MCA Youth chief) have subsequently been reported in the press that there is no whiff of a MCA leadership crisis.

If so, why the collective joint statement by the 10 MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers pledging allegiance to Ong, if not to create the drama of a MCA President facing a “life-and-death” leadership crisis which does not exist?

This is another ploy of the MCA leadership, with MCA leaders very adept in becoming the David Copperfields of Malaysia, giving illusions that something exists when it does not, like:

* Creating the illusion that Ong has honoured his pledge to “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal, when he has not done so despite the PwC report;
* Creating the illusion that a Royal Commission of Inquiry has been established to probe into the causes and circumstances of Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death in the MACC, when there is no such RCI; and
* Creating the illusion that there is a “life and death” leadership crisis for the MCA President when nobody whether inside MCA, Barisan Nasional or outside could get a whiff of such deadly crisis.

I hope Ong will fully co-operate with the police and substantiate with proper facts and evidence the serious allegations he had made about multiple serious crimes committed over the death threat to a Cabinet Minister and the suborning of the government and Cabinet decision-making process by the “dark forces” of underground-Barisan Nasional politico-business complex.

In the past week, Ong had publicly alleged “politico-business forces” connected to the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and “certain quarters in the ruling coalition” who have threatened his personal safety.

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily last Thursday and his various speeches at MCA functions since then, Ong had made the most serious allegations about corruption and abuses of power in the highest levels of government decision-making all the way to the Cabinet, that corruption had emerged under the Najib premiership from the “darkness” into the open to do their evil work.

Ong even claimed that he was now “under siege” from people with vested interests in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, including some from within BN, revealing that he had received death threat delivered him in a message through some “secret society brothers”.

The MCA Sunday Star today reported that the death threat read: “If you’re wiped out from this world some day, you should know why this has happened.”

I had yesterday given him 48 hours to lodge police report about the death threat to a Cabinet Minister and the extension of underground forces in politico-business reaching all the way to the Cabinet, and that I will lodge a police report on his behalf if he dared not do so.

Unless Ong reports a report within the 48 hours deadline, I will lodge a police report to protect Ong’s life as well as to ensure that the dark forces of politico-business underground do not compromise the integrity of the government and Cabinet decision-making process.

I regret that Ong continues to imply that I am one of the “external forces” which has put him under siege in facing his “life-and-death” political crisis to avert a “Topple Ong” campaign.

Let me reiterate that I have no interest or role whatsoever in MCA politics, and I am in the least bothered whether there is a “Topple Ong” and there is no “Topple Ong” campaign in the MCA, aswhether Ong or Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek becomes the MCA President is utterly inconsequential to Malaysians who do not see any difference between the two.

Ong wants to be a hero without heroism – which is why I had lambasted him for being a “hero outside, coward inside (Parliament and Cabinet)” – and there is a lengthening list of instances to substantiate this, the latest being the failure of MCA Ministers to ensure that the Cabinet sets up a comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death at the MACC.

What Malaysians and I are interested are the full facts, uncensored disclosures and no-holds-barred investigations into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – how a RM1.088 billion scandal in 2002 under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik could quadruple to RM4.6 billion scandal under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in 2006 and now set to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong.

Although Liong Sik had appeared before the Public Accounts Committee inquiring into the PKFZ scandal, the former MCA President and Transport Minister had thrown no new light – preferring to emulate the example of his former boss, Tun Dr. Mahathir, claiming convenient selective amnesia!

The second MCA Transport Minister, Chan Kong Choy, will appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday. Is he going to emulate Mahathir and Liong Sik and also become a candidate for “convenient selective amnesia”?

I am very disappointed with Ong because he had pledged to “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal, hiding nothing, when he became Transport Minister after the March 2008 general election, but he failed to honour his pledge.

Although he had made public the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report in the PKFZ, the PwC inquiry was not allowed to delve into the root causes of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

So far, Ong has revealed no more than 10% of the PKFZ scandal. Malaysians want the rest of the 90% of the PKFZ scandal to be made public – in particular who are the culprits responsible for the “mother of all scandals” in Malaysia and why no action has been taken against a single one of them all these years?

If Ong is going to be toppled as MCA President and Transport Minister for trying to reveal less than 10 per cent of the PKFZ scandal, why don’t he go the whole way to expose 100% of the PKFZ scandal and accept all consequences for such a principled and courageous act.

If Ong is prepared to expose 100% of the PKFZ scandal and just be content with expose of less than 10% of the scandal, I am prepared to support him to the hilt, even if it means consolidating his position as MCA President and Transport Minister.

I am prepared to co-operate with Ong to uncover the full story of the PKFZ scandal. Dare Ong accept my offer of co-operation

My first reaction to the joint statement of the MCA Ministers and deputy ministers is whether they are referring to me as the cause of Tee Keat tottering in his ministerial seat, as they described Ong’s crisis as emanating from his handling of the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

I read the statement more than once and clearly it could not refer to me.

The joint statement of the MCA ministers and deputy ministers said those who “ create obstacles, make threats, suppress the truth and mislead the public must be condemned in the strongest terms possible” in the unfolding PKFZ “mother of all scandals”.

It cannot be me, because I do not come under the rubric of the sweeping generalisation and condemnation of those who “create obstacles, make threats, suppress the truth and mislead the public”, although I do not deny that I have been haunting and hounding Ong to “tell all” about the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – in particular the causes and the culprits of the “scandal of all scandals” in Malaysian history.

And I will continue to haunt and hound Ong until the full facts of the PKFZ scandal, as to how a RM1.088 billion scandal under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister in 2002 could quadruple to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister in 2006 and now set to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong.

I had asked Ong 108 questions in my 36-day “three questions a day” on the PKFZ scandal and the MCA President had been running for cover for over a month, right from his scooting to France for the Paris Air Show when Parliament first met on June 15, 2009.

Ong’s failure and inability to answer the 108 questions is akin to his failure to pass as Transport Minister and MCA President like Shaolin disciples in “fighting stories” who could not pass the gauntlet of the 108 movements of Shaolin Wooden-men Lane and 18 Lohans to qualify leaving the Shaolin Mountain out into the world.

I will continue to haunt and hound Ong to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, not because there is anything personal between us but in the public and national interests.

For the past fortnight, I have not been able to get back to the subject of PKFZ scandal, not that I am satisfied with Ong’s responses or that I have nothing more to ask or say, but because more immediate national concerns had consumed my time and energy, like the mysterious death of Teoh Boon Hock at MACC headquarters and the PPSMI controversy.

As a result, I have no time for Ong but will return to Ong and the PKFZ scandal when there is more time.

But I cannot be the one who is causing Ong to fight a political “life and death” battle in Cabinet as to require such a collective joint statement by MCA ministers and deputy ministers to swear eternal allegiance to Ong – just short of declaring that they will “sink or swim” with him, which of course they will not!

This is because Ong’s enemies are of a totally different character as is evident from Ong’s wide-ranging interview with Sin Chew Jit Poh last Thursday and Ong’s Sunday speech, where he made the most serious allegations ever about high-level corruption and abuses of power reaching all the way to the Cabinet, causing him to allege that corruption had emerged under the Najib premiership from the “darkness” into the open to do their evil work.

In fact, in his interview with Sin Chew Daily, Ong himself claimed that he was now “under siege” from people with vested interest in PKFZ, including some from within BN, and claims to have received death threats from underworld figures and whose influence have gone as high as the Cabinet level.

The press had asked for my responses to the collective statement by MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers. Actually, it is the MACC who should be asked for their responses to Ong’s serious allegations of corruption and “dark underground forces” extending the tentacles of their influence to high government places including the Cabinet.

Unless the MCA and Deputy Ministers are trying to distract public attention from the colossal failure of Ong and the other three MCA Ministers in Cabinet yesterday to establish a comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death at MACC last Thursday – instead of a ridiculous Royal Commission of Inquiry not into Teoh’s death but the investigative procedures of MACC!

Malaysiakini has described the collective statement of the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers as “a shot in the arm” for Ong. This phrase cannot be more appropriate, except not in its literary sense. It is most applicable in its literal sense here, for the MCA Ministers and deputy Ministers could not have done more damage to Ong than their maladroit and ill-considered statement of solidarity with Ong.

Can Liong Sik undertake that he will not copy his former boss, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s example of selective amnesia at the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of inquiry when he appears before the PAC on the PKFZ scandal, so that Malaysia will not have “Three Tuns in Selective Amnesia”?

In January last year, Malaysians were treated to the sorry spectacle of the former Prime Minister and former Chief Justice Tun Eusuff Chin competing with each other in selective amnesia when they were summoned to give testimony by the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Mahathir said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony before the Royal Commission while Eusuff Chin said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 18 times in his testimony.

Malaysians did not believe that Mahathir had become so forgetful that he had to invoke the “I cannot remember” mantra 14 times in his short testimony especially as Mahathir was still famed for his poem, Melayu Muda Lupa.

The Malaysian public was really aghast at Mahathir’s testimony because of the public perception that Mahathir had a reputation for remembering details others could hardly recall as illustrated by his mastery to recall effortlessly details of Rafidah Aziz’s excesses in the AP scandal without any prodding.

Can Liong guarantee that the country would not be presented with a third Tun in selective amnesia when he is called to appear before the PAC to give testimony about the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

“Three Tuns in Selective Amnesia” will really be intolerable, insufferable, a great national shame and infamy.

In the past 36 days of “three questions a day” on the PKFZ scandal to the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, I have posed 108 questions.
Ong’s failure and inability to answer the 108 questions is akin to his failure to pass as Transport Minister and McA President like Shaolin disciples in “fighting stories” who could not pass the gauntlet of the 108 movements of Shaolin Wooden-men Lane and 18 Lohans to to leave the Shaolin Mountain to out into the world.

I am taking a three-day break from the 36-day “three questions a day” session and 108 questions and will decide whether to continue with the daily questioning on the PKFZ scandal, and if so, in what new form.

I note that Ong’s “hired guns” and “cultural assassins” in MCA Hqrs continue to pour out attacks on me, which are issued in the name of MCA small fries and operatives from the various states, the latest emanating from Bukit Mertajam.
These “hired gun” attacks from MCA’s “cultural assassins” from the MCA

headquarters, purportedly to defend Ong from my persistent questions to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, would support the decision that I continue with “three questions a day” as I have no problem in coming out with another 108 questions to Ong on the PKFZ scandal.

I will announce my decision in two days’ time.

Question No. 1: Ong, who had to abscond all the way to Paris to avoid ministerial accountability to Parliament for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal on June 15, specially came to Parliament yesterday to repeat to reporters at the Parliament lobby that I am not qualified to challenge him to a public debate on PKFZ scandal.

What courage!

Ong, having become MCA President, now regards himself as ‘No. 1 under the skies”. His ego must have reached the skies as he has been named “World’s Most Outstanding Chinese Leader”!

Ong is undoubtedly the “World’s Most Outstanding Chinese Leader” in running away from ministerial accountability to Parliament and the electorate, running all the way to France and away from Parliamentm stubbornly refusing to take his stand in Parliament to fully account for the “mother of all scandals”, and now running away from a series of public debates to “nail the liar”.

Referring to me yesterday, Ong said:

“He asked for the inquiry and the inquiry was made. The result of the inquiry has also been shared to everyone and he was one of the first to get all the information. He also raised the same questions which were raised three years ago. He has asked and the questions have already been answered.”

Yes, I had called for a full inquiry into the PKFZ “scandal of all scandals” – in fact a Royal Commission of Inquiry. I never agreed to a PKFZ inquiry which is so narrow and restricted in scope like the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit inquiry to the extent that the PwC report admitted in its own words:

“We were not asked to and we have not advised on any strategy, valuation, legal implications, tax, operational effectiveness, staff competencies or process improvement. No investigation to detect any wrongdoing or audit to form an opinion on any financial information, including any forecasts and projects, has been undertaken.”

The first question I want to ask Ong is why he had changed so much in a short period of eight months after he became MCA President last October in his stand on accountability and integrity as compared to his past two decades in politics?

Question No. 2: The second question to Ong is whether he had directed the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to stop the next drawdown of RM360 million from the government’s soft loan of RM4.6 billion to pay the PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. (KDSB) for the PKFZ land and construction.

The Finance Edge had reported that PKA is also to make another drawdown of RM300 million next month to meet the next scheduled payment to KDSB.

KDSB had received a payment of RM510 million in 2007 and RM660 million last year.

Will Ong order a halt to all payments to KDSB until a full inquiry and parliamentary accountability on the PKFZ scandal is completed?

Question No. 3: Karim Raslan in his Star column “CERITALAH” giving his diagnosis as to what Umno and Barisan Nasional should do to regain support of Malaysians, said:

“Second, the administration has to come clean on issues like the Port Klang Free Zone. A zero tolerance to corruption and mismanagement is a sure vote winner, look at how Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has focussed on the issue.”

Because of Ong’s snowballing and sabotaging of all efforts to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, both Ong and the PKFZ scandal have become the symbols of the refusal of the Najib premiership to have zero tolerance to corruption and mismanagement.

Does Ong agree with Karim and what does he proposes to do about it?

(Media Conference Statement by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 11 am)

KLANG: The Government was not able to acquire land for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) at a cheaper price because a development order had already been issued on the land.

As a result, the 404ha piece of land had to be bought at RM25 per sq ft (with infrastructure) as opposed to RM10.16 per sq ft (barren land) from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB).

According to the report on the chronology of PKFZ development released Sunday, the Finance Ministry had instructed the Port Klang Authority (PKA) and the Transport Ministry to acquire the land using the Land Acquisition Act as the initial offer of RM25 per sq ft was too high.

However, the Selangor state government, then under Barisan Nasional rule, rejected in Aug 2001 the application to acquire the land because of an existing development order issued to KDSB in 1997.

The valuation in both instances was done by the Valuation and Property Services Department.

The infrastructure to be built by KDSB, according to the chronology, consisted of land filling works, building drains, roads, bridges, pipes and providing water supply.

KDSB’s first proposal to the government was in Jan 1999 for a price of RM28 per sq ft (with infrastructure).

The Government had agreed then that the land was needed to further improve Port Klang and negotiations continued until Nov 2002 when the land was bought at RM25 per sq ft.

The total paid by the PKA to KDSB for the land eventually amounted to RM1.088bil to be paid over 15 years.

A support letter was issued later by former Transport Minister Tan Sri Ling Liong Sik to Malaysian International Merchant Bankers Bhd and Pacific Trustees Bhd confirming the land purchase.

Former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy also issued three support letters to the Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd at each stage where PKA signed agreements with KDSB.

These agreements were for KDSB to develop PKFZ and amounted to RM2.25bil.

When asked about these letters, PKA general manager and chief executive officer Lim Thean Shiang, who had seen the letters, said one of the clauses in the letters said that it was “explicitly or implicitly not a guarantee letter.”

The last entry of the 22-point chronology was that PKA has since paid RM1.378bil to KDSB for the PKFZ project.

Ong said he meant to keep his promise that the findings from the probe would be made public.

“PricewaterhouseCoopers is still fine-tuning its report on the financial aspects involving PKFZ as there are some formalities it needs to look through before concluding the report,” he said at a press conference after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Sirim Bhd and EGR Tech Sdn Bhd for the testing of and certifying a hydrogen production system for internal combustion engines.

Ong said the international auditing firm would submit its report to the Port Klang Authority after the fine-tuning.

The Port Klang Authoritydecided in its board meeting in May this year to hire the PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an independent overall audit on the accounts of the free zone.

A credible auditing firm’s findings would help strengthen the Government and the port authority’s explanations on the funds and the project, especially since there were many negative perceptions on how the RM4.6bil soft loan from the Federal Government had been used by the port authority.

On the MCA’s preparations for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election, Ong said the Terengganu state MCA was all geared up for action.

Ong, who is also the MCA president, said the state MCA had been told to start assessing issues in the area, look into ways to gain support and get the party election machinery ready for action when the campaign gets into full swing in about two weeks.

Asked about the RM100mil legal suit by the concessionaire of the e-Kesihatan medical programme for allegedly commenting on the monopolistic structure of the programme, Ong said: “We have asked the Transport Ministry’s legal adviser to look into it.”

TEKA-teki mengakhiri segala tanda tanya membabitkan tokoh tertentu beberapa parti komponen Barisan Nasional (BN) apabila MCA dan Gerakan mengumumkan senarai calon untuk ditampilkan pada pilihan raya umum kali ini.

Selain pengunduran mengejut Timbalan Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy yang juga Menteri Pengangkutan, bakal calon Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang pula kini disenarai pendek kepada dua nama.

Bagaimanapun, kedudukan Chan sebagai orang nombor dua dalam MCA, suatu jawatan yang cukup tinggi, untuk tidak bertanding dalam pilihan raya mengundang lebih banyak persoalan belum terjawab.

Chan, 53, sebenarnya boleh dianggap masih muda, memberitahu kesihatan adalah satu-satunya alasan menyebabkan beliau tidak mahu bertanding.

Beliau menyatakan perkara itu dimaklumkan kepada Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting sejak lapan bulan lalu. Chan bertegas tidak mahu namanya dicalonkan meskipun turut berada dalam senarai yang dikemukakan kepada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Bagaimanapun, ini tidak menghalang kepada pelbagai andaian seperti dikaitkan dalam isu kontroversi membabitkan Zon Bebas Port Klang (PKFZ) di Pulau Indah.

Chan bingkas menolak andaian itu dengan mengatakan ia bersifat spekulatif dan tidak mahu melayan persoalan itu.

Di kalangan ahli MCA, ada yang membuat andaian bahawa berlaku pergolakan dalaman di kalangan pemimpin parti itu dengan mengaitkan pemilihan parti yang dijangka selepas pilihan raya umum nanti.

Isu klip video lucah membabitkan bekas Naib Presiden, Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, dikatakan adalah antara buktinya. Keputusan tidak bertanding ini dikatakan adalah hasil paksaan terhadap Chan.

Tanpa jawatan dalam kerajaan, Chan bakal berdepan laluan sukar jika dicabar dalam pemilihan parti. Bagaimanapun, perkara ini dinafikan oleh Ong.

Ong yakin ahli dan pemimpin MCA cukup matang untuk menolak tohmahan begitu, malah beliau berkata keputusan itu tidak bermakna Chan meninggalkan sehala-galanya. Timbalannya adalah pemimpin yang disayangi ahli parti semua peringkat.

Hakikat kesediaan Chan berkempen untuk MCA dan BN mampu memadamkan api yang cuba dimarakkan bahawa MCA ada masalah. Yang menarik juga ialah semua calon Parlimen di Pulau Pinang adalah muka baru iaitu Song Choy Leng yang bertanding Parlimen Bagan, Ong Tang Chuan (Bukit Mertajam), Datuk Koay Kar Huah (Bukit Gelugor) dan Oii Siew Hon (Bayan Baru).

Bagi Gerakan pula, yang hampir pasti, Pemangku Presiden, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon dijangka berpindah ke Kabinet Persekutuan selepas ini apabila bertanding di Parlimen Batu Kawan. Beliau sudah memegang jawatan Ketua Menteri Pulau Mutiara itu sejak 18 tahun lalu.

Pengumuman dalam sidang akhbar ringkas itu mengakhiri khabar angin kedudukan Setiausaha Agungnya, Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye yang disebut-sebut sebagai seorang daripada calon Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, apabila disahkan terus bertanding mempertahankan kerusi Parlimen Bukit Bendera yang disandangnya sejak 1995.

Dengan pencalonan Chia di kerusi Parlimen, calon Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang boleh disenarai pendek kepada dua nama atau lebih dilihat sebagai ‘persaingan’ dua penjuru antara Timbalan Setiausaha Agung, Datuk Lee Kah Choon dan Naib Presiden, Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan.

Lee, 48, yang juga Setiausaha Parlimen Kementerian Kesihatan disahkan beralih dari Parlimen Jelutong ke kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Machang Bubuk, seakan menguatkan lagi spekulasi yang dirinya bakal pengganti Dr Koh. Dr Teng, 63, yang juga pemimpin lama Pulau Pinang pula akan terus bertanding mempertahankan DUN Pulau Tikus.

Ditanya mengenai perkara itu, Dr Koh enggan menjawab sebaliknya meminta supaya semua pihak menunggu selepas pilihan raya selesai dijalankan.

“Biarlah mereka bertanding pilihan raya dan menang terlebih dulu sebelum kita bercakap mengenai perkara itu,” katanya ringkas seolah tidak mahu tumpuan calon terganggu dengan pelbagai spekulasi mengenai perkara itu yang boleh menjejaskan persediaan pilihan raya nanti.

Pengumuman Dr Koh semalam turut menyaksikan 11 muka baru diketengahkan – lima Parlimen dan enam DUN di sembilan negeri pada Pilihan Raya Umum 8 Mac ini. Muka baru itu termasuk Timbalan Ketua Pemuda Gerakan, Lim Sim Pin yang juga anak lelaki tunggal Penasihat parti, Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, bagi Parlimen Batu, Wilayah Persekutuan.

Dr Koh yang sebelum ini penyandang kerusi DUN Tanjong berkata, sembilan calon digugurkan membabitkan tiga Ahli Parlimen dan enam DUN.

Mereka ialah bekas Timbalan Presiden Gerakan, Datuk Kerk Choo Ting; Naib Presiden yang juga Pengerusi Gerakan Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong; Naib Presiden, Ng Lip Yong manakala enam DUN ialah Yap Soo Sun, Cheung Khai Yan, Chua Peng Song, Toh Kin Woon, Lai Chew Hock dan Ng Chii Fa.

Kerusi Parlimen Beruas, yang dikosongkan Dr Lim selepas mengumumkan persaraannya sebelum ini bakal ditandingi Naib Presiden, Datuk Chang Ko Youn.

Senarai calon kali ini juga menyaksikan hanya tiga wanita dicalonkan untuk kerusi Bukit Tengah, Pulau Pinang yang ditandingi Ng Siew Lai, Yong Dai Ying di Bukit Lanjan, Selangor dan Ngo Kim Hua di Bachang, Melaka, iaitu satu-satunya kerusi yang ditandingi Gerakan di negeri itu.

Sementara itu, pengakuan Presiden MIC, Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu sendiri mengenai kesukaran mempertahankan semua sembilan kerusi Parlimen dan 19 kerusi DUN yang dimenangi parti itu pada 2004 sudah cukup untuk membayangkan kehebatan cabaran bakal dihadapi calonnya kali ini.

Hanya dua pertukaran dibuat dalam senarai calon Parlimen, tetapi 13 muka baru diperkenalkan bagi DUN, hampir semua bertanding buat pertama kali dalam usaha menggamit semula sokongan kaum India yang semakin terhakis sejak kebelakangan ini.

Tindakan menukarkan penyandang kerusi Parlimen Tapah, Datuk S Veerasingam bagi bertanding di DUN Sungkai dan meletakkan Ketua Penerangan MIC, Datuk M Saravanan, sebagai ganti menimbulkan tanda tanya pelbagai pihak mengenai percaturan Samy Vellu.

Pengguguran penyandang kerusi DUN Kahang, S Ramis, turut menjadi kejutan, seperti mana penambahan seorang lagi wanita, S Thangasvari (DUN Hutan Melintang) menyertai Datin Paduka Komala Devi (Parlimen Kapar) dan Kamala Ganapathy di DUN Seri Andalas.

MIC kali ini bukan saja terpaksa bertungkus lumus meraih sokongan masyarakat India bagi calon parti itu, sebaliknya harus memastikan tradisi sokongan mereka kepada Barisan Nasional (BN) terus berkekalan berikutan beberapa perkembangan terkini membabitkan tunjuk perasaan di kalangan anggota masyarakat yang mendakwa kepentingan mereka diabaikan.

Kerusi Parlimen Kota Raja dan Subang di Selangor; Tapah, Perak; Teluk Kemang, Negeri Sembilan dan Cameron Highlands, Pahang di jangka menghadapi pertandingan sengit.

DUN Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan; Perai dan Bagan Dalam di Pulau Pinang; Batu Caves, Selangor serta Lunas dan Bukit Selambau di Kedah turut menghadapi laluan getir kerana difahamkan beberapa nama besar di kalangan pemimpin pakatan pembangkang mengintai kerusi berkenaan.