I’ll continue to speak up for the people, says SUPP Youth chief

SUPP Youth chief Michael Tiang says DAP’s Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon should not have lodged a police report against him.

KUCHING: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party Youth chief Michael Tiang said he will continue to speak up for the people, after a DAP assemblyman lodged a police report against him for accusing the PH government of closing down community clinics and police stations due to non-payment of rent.

Tiang said it was not his intention to defame the Pakatan Harapan administration “but I have all the intention to speak up for the people on the government’s policies”.

“If the PH government’s policies are for the benefit of the people, then the federal government should not have to worry about any public criticism,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon lodged a police report against Tiang for accusing the PH government of closing down community clinics and police stations due to high rental and rental arrears.

Ting claimed that Tiang’s statement was baseless and made without further investigation to undermine the PH government.

However, according to Tiang, many enforcement agencies are unable to maintain government vehicles and vessels following the huge cut in their allocations.

For example, he said, a police station in Selangor had been forced to close down as it could not pay the rent.

“On Dec 13, a community police station in Bandar Technology, Kajang, was also directed to cease operation due to rental issue,” he said.

He said Johor police chief Mohd Kamarudin Md Din had also announced that eight community police stations in the state had been expected to close down because of high rental.

Tiang criticised Ting for lodging the report against him as the PH government had promised to accept criticism without compromising freedom of speech when it came into power last year.

“This promise was clearly broken when Ting went to lodge a police report against a public statement published to vent the people’s concerns.

“However, since the report has been lodged, we should let the police carry out their investigation,” he said. - FMT