Wednesday August 30, 2006
Keng Yaik once again comes out in defence of Koh
By SIM LEOI LEOI
PUTRAJAYA: Gerakan president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik has once again come out in defence of his heir apparent Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon who has come under pressure from Penang Umno division chiefs, who claim that Malays in the state have been marginalised.
Dr Lim said, on the contrary, Malays in the state enjoyed a higher living standard than those in other states, who were so-called “ruled” by Malay Mentris Besar.
“You cannot deny the fact that Malays in Penang are better off than Malays in most other states,” he told reporters here yesterday in an interview as a run-up to the party’s National Delegates Conference this Saturday.
“But of course there are areas in Penang which are not developed. Part of the reason is that there are many Malays who don’t want their areas to be developed.
“I know this has been a problem since the days of (former Chief Minister Tun Dr) Lim Chong Eu.
“If they don’t want to convert their padi land into an area to be developed, can you force them?
“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi knows this.
“And all the Umno politicians in the state leadership know this and they should come out to defend (Dr Koh) Tsu Koon.”.
Dr Koh, the Penang chief minister, has been the target of state Umno members at their division AGMs in the past three weeks.
Dr Lim also said it was impossible to ensure that all areas in Penang were developed at the same rate, as even “the United States has rural areas”.
The state Umno division chiefs had even moved a proposal for the post of chief minister to be rotated among the parties in the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.
Asked if the issue of CM rotation would be brought up during the conference, Dr Lim said he had indicated to the delegates to “not even bother discussing it”.
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