Stop the hypocrisy, LGE is not a pauper who needs RM10 from people to fill his kitty

1. The DAP has launched a fund-raising campaign to allegedly raise the balance of RM1 million bail imposed on party secretary general Lim Guan Eng by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Friday, August 7, 2020.

2. Lim Guan Eng is facing a very serious charge of asking for a 10 per cent cut from any profits gained from his RM6.29 billion pet project, the Penang Undersea Tunnel and the party now wants people to pay RM10 each to contribute towards his bail!

3. The former Finance Minister, who is also former Penang Chief Minister, is expected to be hauled to court again on Monday and Tuesday to face another two charges based on investigations concluded by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC). Worse still, Lim Guan Eng’s wife, Betty Chew is also reportedly going to be slapped with money laundering charges this week.

4. Apart from the fund raising campaign, Guan Eng’s father, Lim Kit Siang has made a plea calling for the Prime Minister, and Attorney General to intervene and have charges against his daughter-in-law dropped.

5. I find both moves initiated by the DAP as perplexing and nothing short of hypocritical. The party is trying to whip up public sentiments by portraying Lim Guan Eng as a victim of political persecution and a man who is facing difficulties raising his bail money.

6. Really?..Let’s revisit information about Lim Guan Eng’s income which is in the public domain. Lest we forget, there was a report in November 2018 of a list published by the MACC on its website. The list clearly showed details on the incomes of Members of Parliaments (MPs).

7. Perhaps DAP leaders need to be reminded that the list clearly showed that Lim Guan Eng topped everyone else in terms of earnings. He was ahead of 47 other MPs from the then Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition, as well as Cabinet members, taking home a cool monthly income of RM86,564.92.

8. For the record, other DAP leaders whose income was published in the MACC list included that of Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (RM73,576.15), Teresa Kok (RM68,142.66), Gobind Singh Deo (RM58,100.98), Ngeh Koo Ham (RM55,908.33), RSN Rayer (RM37,800) and others. Almost every media reported on these details but I will just list one for ease of reference : https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/11/01/guan-eng-top-income-earner-on-maccs-list/.

9. The DAP has 42 MPs, and they have all served more than two years. A simple calculation based on the basic salary of an MP which is about RM26,000 a month will show that their combined income is about RM1 million per month. If Lim Guan Eng was somehow unable to save anything from his salaries as a chief minister of two terms, member of numerous boards while serving as a chief minister, becoming a member of parliament and then a cabinet minister, he should turn to DAP MPs to come up with the RM500,000 instead of asking the public to give him RM10 each.

10. Speaking of salaries, based on the RM86,464.92 he was earning as Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng would have earned RM1,902,228.24 in the 22 months he held the post. His basic income as Penang Chief Minister from March 2008 to May 2018 would have been a whopping RM5,675,594 based on a monthly take home pay of RM46,521.27 for 122 months!!!!

11. I would therefore like to advise the DAP to stop the shenanigans of portraying Lim Guan Eng as a victim and a pauper who is unable to pay his bail. If he is truly innocent, Lim Guan Eng should have no fear in clearing his name in the courts without dragging the public through the mud pit he has found himself in.

12. If the DAP truly believes in the rule of law, Lim Kit Siang should also know better than to seek political interference in trying to get his daughter-in-law off the hook. Surely, Lim Kit Siang knows better than going against the party’s principles to observe the law and the separation of power in the government and institution — something which DAP has been fighting for all these years.

BALJIT SINGH
GERAKAN VICE PRESIDENT