Attack is to undermine state gov't, says CM

The early morning attack against the DAP headquarters and three service centres in Penang is a systematic effort to subvert, threaten and undermine the state government.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the incident was serious as this was the first time in history that the safety and security of the service centre of the head of state had been jeopardised.

The DAP secretary-general said the Penang Pakatan Rakyat government was elected by the people.

He urged the party’s members and supporters to remain calm and be prepared.

“We do not know how many more centres would be attacked but we would definitely be stepping up our security measures,” said Lim during his visit to the DAP main office in Jalan Rangoon.

“However serious the attack, it will not deter us from serving the people and to continue with state policies and programmes which benefit the people,” he added.

Lim, the Air Putih assemblyperson, was referring to his service centre which was also smeared with four packets of red paint.

Lim’s service centre had yet to install CCTV cameras while the machine at the DAP’s HQ had captured scenes of two men with helmets wearing red and white T-shirts hurling the packets at the building.

Other service centres involved in the fracas are those in Dato Keramat and Pulau Tikus.

Lim urged the police to probe the incidents thoroughly as inaction would encourage similar attacks in the future.

He added that similar attacks again the party’s buildings in 2011 had also not yielded any action from the police.

During the press conference at the DAP HQ, the CCTV recording was shown to reporters.

In an immediate response, state Gerakan Youth vice-chief Albert Tan condemned the act as being “childish”.

Tan said if the attack happened to only one centre, one could conclude that it was done by a dissatisfied DAP supporter.

“However, the attack involved three other places, and looks like it was self-directed to gain sympathy,” Tan posted in a comment onMalaysiakini's Chinese version Facebook.

“I cannot see any other motives involved. The paint only cost a few ringgit but the impact is very high,” he added.

[More to follow]