Soi Lek hits a RAW NERVE: Denials of KTAR land sale won't appease MCA members - Jui Meng

Embattled MCA president Chua Soi Lek may have gone too far this time. Party elders and grassroots alike are seriously perturbed over news reports that he planned to sell a 45-acre plot land in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur belonging to Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman for RM100 million to an obscure firm.

Although the scandal-tainted Soi Lek has since denied the news reports and blamed the Opposition for spreading the rumor, talk of such a plan to benefit himself and his cronies, which are said to include bigwigs from Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno party, actually originated from within the MCA grapevine itself.

"I received a call from a former colleague in MCA last night. It was a party elder and he was very upset and concerned about what Soi Lek might do next," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Although I left MCA two years ago, I won't stand by and keep quiet if it is true, its assets are being stripped away. Like any decent Malaysian, I would tell Soi Lek, the land belongs to TAR College. It was gifted by the government and should be kept for expansion or for the well-being of future generations of students. Even if Soi Lek is the head of TAR College committee, he has no right to sell this land as he is alleged to be considering by the Chinese newspapers. This is a moral issue. Call any other MCA leader, Lim Ah Lek or Ong Tee Keat, they will tell you the same."

RM100mil is way too low

Perhaps two factors that have fueled the near panic felt by MCA elders - many of whom are educationists without political ambitions - is that deputy president Liow Tiong Lai and vice president Ng Yen Yen also sit in the same committee overseeing the college affairs with Soi Lek. The trio are known to be close friends and few MCA members would bet that Liow or Yen Yen would be able to bar Soi Lek from pushing through any proposed sale if he was so inclined.

The other is that the purported sale price of RM100million is way too low. Party members estimate the current market value to be anything from at least RM500mil to RM1billion.

Another MCA leader, Fong Chan Onn, has also denied plans to sell the TAR College land. Fong is also a member of the College committee, and was recently in the spotlight for his role in awarding a solar power deal to 12 inexperienced firms linked to the daughter of the new Petronas chairman, Sidek Hassan, who was also the former Umno Chief Secretary to the government.

End of the MCA road for Soi Lek & son

To political observers, the latest brouhaha only confirmed their prediction that it was the end of the road for Soi Lek and his son. The 65-year former Health minister had made a shock comeback in 2010, defeating incumbent Ong Tee Keat for the presidency.

MCA members had then been fractured by Tee Keat's determination to expose the RM12.5bil PKFZ debacle, which would jeopardize the positions of past senior leaders such as Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy. The resultant infighting helped Soi Lek to overcome a sex scandal but his first actions after winning the presidency created serious concerns across the party.

Not only did Soi Lek immediately elevate his son Tee Yong to a deputy minister's post in the federal cabinet, his controversial handling of political issues to boost MCA's profile have also backfired. Two of the most recent 'maneuvers' ended disastrously for the MCA, with Soi Lek and Tee Yong blamed for the fiascoes.

One was the alleged sex scandal Soi Lek and team brought out against DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and wife Betty Chew.The manner in which the MCA leaders tried to discredit Guan Eng, who is also the Penang Chief Minister, through his wife via the Malacca state assembly thoroughly disgusted the Malaysian public, not just the Chinese community.

The other was the Tee Yong-led attack against PKR Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, accusing his state government of being involved in a RM1bil corruption scandal over the Talam debt restructuring exercise.

Sad to say, Tee Yong got his facts incorrect and was publicly ridiculed for his shoddy research. Ironically, Tee Yong had just a day ago accused Khalid's government of having “overpaid” by RM57mil four plots of land in Danau Putra, of which 80% is submerged in water.

If the rumors were true that his dad was considering selling off 45-acres of prime KL land for a tenth of its market price, then it would be a hard task indeed for Tee Yong to justify why he wasn't demanding an explanation from his own party president, even if the latter was his father.

Raw nerve

MCA watchers believe that the latest land sale rumors, which hit a raw nerve, will not settle so easily despite Soi Lek's denial.

"Soi Lek and Chan Onn have been quick to make their denials but it remains to be seen whether MCA members - senior and junior - accept their explanation. It is for MCA members to demand to know whether there was such an attempt to sell the land in the first place, and why? What was Soi Lek's rationale, what was he thinking of?" said Jui Meng.

"MCA members have the right to know because when it comes to education, they won't tolerate any discrepancy and will be very outspoken. Soi Lek must lay bare all the facts leading to the outburst in the Chinese press. You can't blame MCA members for wanting to be sure their president won't go behind their bank and strike a deal for vested interest."

Malaysia Chronicle