Is Liong Sik returning Mahathir’s favours?
The two have always had a ‘you scratch my back and I scratch yours’ relationship.
Tajuddin Rosli, Free Malaysia Today
Ex-MCA president Ling Liong Sik has become the latest old politician from the Mahathir era to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak, joining the likes of Sanusi Junid and Daim Zainuddin.
All of a sudden, Ling has become another national hero because he is speaking out against Najib. Malaysians seem foolish enough to easily turn villains into heroes and worship them.
Is Ling speaking against Najib on his own will or just returning the humongous favours Mahathir did for him in the past?
Has everyone forgotten the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal? In 2011 Ling was charged in court over one of Malaysia’s biggest corruption scandals. He was accused of deceiving the Cabinet when he persuaded it to agree to the purchase of a huge swath of land for the PKFZ project. This project resulted in multi-billion-ringgit losses for the government. When Ling mooted it in 1997, the estimated cost was RM 1.1 billion. Ultimately, the cost ballooned to more than RM10 billion. Price Waterhouse Coopers, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, revealed in 2009 that the total cost, including interest on borrowings, could reach RM12.5 billion.
The Asia Sentinel reported that when the scandal broke, the then MCA president, Ong Tee Keat, insisted that all reports related to the affair be released to the public. Those efforts caused unrest among MCA members and they overthrew Ong.
However, in 2013 the court acquitted Ling of the charges. DAP’s Tony Pua and Lim Kit Siang, in criticising the court decision, said the case was “framed to fail.” During the court proceedings, Mahathir was the prime witness and said he was never cheated or lied to. In other words, a simple denial from Mahathir killed the case and Ling was free to go.
Mahathir and Ling have been comrades since the early 1980s. In 1984, Ling together with several other members of MCA were sacked from the party. However, Mahathir stepped in and instructed the then party president, Neo Yee Pan, to reinstate them.
In 1988, when Umno got deregistered, Ling took over as the chairman of Barisan Nasional. As the BN chief, Ling allowed Mahathir to stay on as Prime Minister despite Umno’s deregistration. When Mahathir formed Umno Baru, Ling instructed all members of BN to unanimously approve Umno Baru’s application to join BN.
Ling and Mahathir have always had a “you scratch my back and I scratch yours” relationship.
