Protests outside bungalow cited as reason for lower price

Teresa Kok says protests against the Penang CM, including a mock funeral, may have prompted the bungalow's previous owner to sell it off cheap.

SHAH ALAM: The many protests held outside the Jalan Pinhorn bungalow could be the reason its previous owner sold it to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at below market price, an Opposition MP claimed yesterday.

MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok of DAP said Phang Li Koon could very likely have been willing to let go of her property at a cheap price due to the many protests as well as a mock funeral procession held outside Lim’s house since he moved in there, she said in her speech at the People’s Congress here yesterday in Shah Alam.

She pointed out that unlike Selangor where protests were held outside the state government building, in Penang protesters preferred to voice their disapproval over issues directly outside the CM’s house instead.

The protests had made the property “unattractive” for Phang, Kok said, citing this as a possible reason why the owner sold it to Lim for below market price.

Kok also claimed that critics had blown the issue out of proportion to divert the people’s attention from the People’s Congress, an event organised by the Save Malaysia movement, calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s resignation.

Lim is now being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over his purchase of the bungalow.

Critics are also questioning the relationship between Phang and Lim’s administration, which facilitated the deal.