KOTA KINABALU, August 12, 2010: Another Chinese community leader has come forward to protest against Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaders glorifying of their former party president cum former Chief Minister of Sabah Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat, portraying him as “a hero for the Sabah Chinese community”.
Lin Foo Sin, Chinese Kapitan for Telipok concurred with social activist Kong Yu Kiong’s recent statement that Chong has no moral standing to be accorded such an honour, citing his past dubious track records during his tenure as Chief Minister of Sabah.
Kong had among others cited that Chong had not only failed to assist the Chinese community of Sabah especially in terms of education development, something which is always close to the community’s heart, but irked the community when he slashed the much needed annual allocations to the Chinese schools in the State, besides giving away a piece of state land in Kolombong that was originally given to the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) for the construction of its new school building, to solve the problem of acute congestion in the classrooms of its existing primary schools. This controversy was first highlighted by the other Chinese community leaders and educationists.
In addition to this, Kong also accused Chong of promoting gambling in the State by allegedly increasing the number of slot machines in the recreational clubs throughout the State, from five to ten machines per club, besides allowing Diriwan 88 to resume its operations in Sabah.
“Tan Sri Chong may be a hero for some people, the leaders and supporters of LDP especially, which is understandable. But to say that he is a hero of the Chinese community is an overstatement if not an insult to us (Chinese community), as in as far as we the people of Telipok are concerned, he (Chong) is an arrogant, uncaring chief minister,” said Lin in a statement issued here today.
He cited his personal encounters with the former Chief Minister for example where at one occasion, the latter outright rejected the appeal of the Telipok folks not to relocate the Gaya islanders to Telipok for fear of their wellbeing. Such fear was later proven to be legitimate when social ills and crime rate shot up in the area after the relocation plan was carried out. A nine year old student was even raped and murdered by a drug addict who is a foreigner from the area.
He also claimed that the forced relocation of the Gaya islanders to Telipok was made largely based on commercial consideration, in favour of a certain tourism operators closely aligned to him at that time, to establish their business on Pulau Gaya, completely ignoring the plight of the Telipok folks who were already living in great misery due to constant flooding in the area.
“In another occasion, he (Chong) simply brushed aside our plight over the constant flooding situation in Telipok every time when there was a heavy downpour. It must be put on record that this dreadful issue was subsequently resolved after Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman became the Chief Minister,” he related.
The same issues were also raised by another former Chief Minister of Sabah and their respective elected representatives, but they too were showed the doors.
“We thank God that he (Chong) was only the Chief Minister of Sabah for two years, otherwise we would still be living in agony today, every time when there is a heavy downpour,” he said.
Lin also asserted that he has got nothing personal against the former Chief Minister but merely stating the facts based on his personal encounters with him (Chong).
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