Why the truth only now, George?

Former Sarawak deputy chief minister's disclosure that the BN does not take heed of the Chinese community's interests a boost for DAP

KUCHING: Sarawak United Peoples Party president George Chan’s ‘revealing’ statement that Barisan Nasional coalition does care about the Chinese was well received by the DAP.

Chan, a former deputy chief minister, said that ‘if DAP joined BN, it will be also useless like SUPP, MCA and Gerakan’ because BN does not care about the Chinese.

Chan, who lost his Piasau seat in the recent state election, was referring to an invitation by Nazri Aziz, the minister in the PM’s department for DAP to join the Barisan Nasional.

Nazri last week end urged DAP and PAS to join BN in an interview with Sin Jew Jit Poh.

Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jien said: “We have to thank George Chan for telling us the truth that even if DAP was to join BN, it will be useless as the BN does not take heed of the Chinese interest.

“The policy is that the BN does not take heed of what the Chinese want because they don’t care. Whoever joins BN, it is no use. That is the situation in BN.

“This is truth and George Chan’s honesty is appreaciated. But (unfortunately) it comes 15 years too late.”

Chong also chastised Chan and other members of the leadership for speaking the truth only after they had lost their seats and positions in the state Cabinet.

“Why are you telling us now? Why not 15 years ago when you were still the deputy chief minister?

“All this while, you have been telling the Chinese in Sarawak only in BN that you can achieve what the Chinese want. As the opposition you cannot do anything.

“But after you lost the election and your official post you are being truthful to the people. The reason is that there was a conflict of interest when you were inside.

“The only conclusion that we can draw now is that SUPP leaders only tells the people of Sarawak the truth when they lose the election and their official posts,” he said.

‘Fooling the people’

Asked whether SUPP should pull out of BN, Chong said: “We leave it to them to rot in the BN. I don’t give a damn, but I would like to highlight two things from his statement.

“Firstly, for the past 15 years while Chan was inside, they were fooling the people and telling them that only in BN, they can fight for Chinese rights.

“Secondly, SUPP leaders only speak words of concern after they have been ousted from their ministerial posts,” he said.

Chong also took to task Second Minister of Finance Wong Soon Koh, who is also the SUPP deputy secretary general, over his ministerial post.

“What is Wong, the last of the Mohicans, doing inside BN holding a ministerial post if his president said BN does not care about what the Chinese want?

“I want Wong to reply to George Chan,” said Chong.

Chong said that Chan had now indrectly implied that the Chinese community should give DAP their full support in the coming parlimanetary election.

As to Nazri’s invitation, Chong who is also Bandar Kuching MP, described it as a ‘nonsense’ offer and said that DAP did not take the invitation seriously.

He said it was not on the agenda of DAP, and if had been, the DAP would have done so 40 years ago when there was an open invitation to all opposition parties to form BN by Tun Abdul Razak as Prime Minister after ousting Tunku Abdul Rahman.

SUPP, Gerakan and PAS joined the BN government, but DAP stood firm and refused to join as it believed that in a democratic system there must be an opposition.

“After 40 years, the BN government has become more rotten and more corrupted and there are more abuses of power involving more money. Previously it was only millions of ringgit. Now billions are involved,” he said.