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PENANG: Gerakan adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik warned Malaysians that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is not their saviour. 

“Anwar imagines himself to be a gift sent here from heaven to save Malaysians. He claims to be against the New Economic Policy (NEP) and is in favour of equality. My foot!” he said. 

He was addressing thousands of people who had turned up at Rifle Range here for the Malam Satu Hati Bersama Rakyat last night. 

Dr Lim said Anwar said different things in front of the different audiences.  

“He can change colours to suit the crowd. 

“Don’t listen to him. He will make you feel seronok (good) and fall asleep. When you wake up, everything is gone,” he said, adding that he could not stay home at the thought of the Opposition trying to trick the people. 

Dr Lim said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was a gong kia (stupid boy) to trust Anwar.  

“His father Kit Siang did not teach him well. After more than 16 years battling Anwar, now he allows his son to ‘marry’ the PKR de facto leader. 

“I have been in politics for more than 40 years and I have battled Anwar too. It is because of him that I am so thin today,” he said. 

He said the Opposition wanted to deny Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority resulting in the Chinese and Indians losing their representation. 

“Then how? Poci (gone) lah!” he said as he assured the crowd that Gerakan would choose a good leader for Penang just as it had done for the last 39 years. 

“We will give you a good leader. What is important is to ensure Barisan’s victory before we talk about the next chief minister,” he said.  

Anwar against education director

PENANG: PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did not want to promote a capable and qualified Chinese to be the state education director when he was the deputy prime minister, Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon revealed yesterday. 

He said Anwar refused to promote Datuk Tang Hon Yin who had been the state deputy education director for almost 12 years. 

“I was already the Chief Minister and had wanted to promote Tang because he was very experienced but Anwar said no. He claimed that it was 'sensitive’ to promote a Chinese. 

“Instead he wanted to promote Datuk Ahmad Farouk Abdul Majid who was less senior. I did not agree and even Ahmad Farouk himself admitted that Tang should have been promoted over him. 

“Because I did not want Tang to be overlooked again, I approached then Education Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who immediately gave his consent. Tang finally got the promotion he deserved in 1997. 

“Anwar was very unhappy. He called me up and reminded me that he was the deputy prime minister and that I should not have gone to (Datuk Seri) Najib,” Dr Koh said at the Meet The People Night gathering in Rifle Range. 

Dr Koh, who is Gerakan acting president, said this showed that Anwar was insincere about representing all the different races. 

Dr Koh also produced a poster featuring PKR and PAS logos. 

“You see, when Anwar is in a Chinese or Indian constituency, he will bring out the PKR-DAP poster but when he is in a Malay area, he acknowledges the party’s collaboration with PAS,” he said.  

Anwar taken to task over incompetent teachers

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim didn’t budge when the Chinese community protested against the sending of incompetent teachers to Chinese primary schools in the 1980s, said an MCA veteran. 

Datuk Wong Mook Leong, who is the MCA strategist, said what Anwar (then education minister) did was something the Chinese community would never forget. 

“What he says now contradicts what he said during Operasi Lalang in 1987 when more than 100 Malaysians were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA). 

“Many of them were MCA leaders, DAP leaders and members of the Dong Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association),” Wong told a press conference at Wisma MCA yesterday. 

He said this when asked to comment on Anwar now portraying himself as the protector of Chinese rights and education. 

Wong said the Chinese community protested when the Education Ministry sent teachers who were not competent in Mandarin to Chinese primary schools. 

“There was a huge protest but the Government didn’t budge. Anwar didn’t budge at all. 

“Consequently, there was a big gathering at Thean Hou Temple to protest the issue but to no avail,” he said. 

He added: “And today he (Anwar) says he is for Chinese schools. 

“But what he did then is something the Chinese community will never forget, and they will never forgive.” 

However, Wong said he was thankful the situation was rectified by the Barisan Nasional Government after Anwar left the party. 

“In the last three terms, MCA has managed to relocate about 75 schools and build 15 new Chinese schools,” he said. 

In an earlier press conference, Wong also said that if the DAP won big in the polls, the biggest loser would be the Chinese community as the Cabinet posts would be lost as well. 

“MCA used to hold the Finance Ministry and International Trade and Industry Ministry posts. But it was all lost in the 1969 election and it’s now gone forever.” 

MCA has four ministerial posts, while Gerakan and SUPP hold one each.He added that the Chinese voters had a simple choice to make – a bigger say in Parliament and Government or a louder voice in Parliament and outside the corridors of power.  

Wong, who has been working behind the scenes for more than 31 years, said the reality was that whenever the DAP did better than MCA, it was a major setback for the community.  

Ah Lek: Anwar trying to divide people

by Lisa Goh and Oh Ing Yeen

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim used to attack and condemn DAP and PAS but is now their ally in the opposition front, said a former Cabinet minister.

Former Human Resources Minister Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek said Anwar, PKR’s de facto leader, was obviously fishing for votes.

“As an ex-deputy prime minister, he should be more responsible. He shouldn’t be saying one thing in front of the Chinese, and another thing in front of the Malays,” Lim told a press conference at Wisma MCA yesterday.

“The question is, what is his motive? It’s very obvious isn’t it? The voters are a mature lot, and I am sure they will not be hoodwinked.”

Lim, a former MCA deputy president, said he was very close to Anwar when they were both in the Cabinet, and he had “a lot of respect for him”.

“But now I’ve lost my respect for him because he tries to divide the country by creating negative sentiments among the different communities,” he said.

“Do you really want a leader like that?”

Lim, who retired from politics in 1999, also said the MCA had always been there for the Chinese community, and that the four MCA Ministers in the Cabinet had a very important role to play.

“Don’t think it’s okay to sacrifice a few MCA Ministers in the Government by not voting for them.

“It will only weaken the Chinese representation in the Cabinet,” he noted.

“The Cabinet meets every Wednesday, and that is an avenue to bring up the very urgent problems of the Chinese community to the national leadership.”

He added that he had observed during his 10-year tenure as a minister, that MCA ministers could always bring up Chinese issues during Cabinet meetings, where everyone would listen.

Selangor Umno chief Datuk Seri Dr Khir Mohd Toyo questioned Anwar's credibility, saying the voters should not be swayed by his rhetorical skills.

“He changes his tune to suit the audience. He is an opportunist with no firm convictions who just wants to win votes,” said Dr Khir at a gathering for Barisan Nasional Gombak candidates here.

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