2œ theSun | TUESDAY OCTOBER 20 2009

news without borders

Wee, Chew say Ong not pressured to quit

by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth chief Datuk
Dr Wee Ka Siong and Wanita chief Datin
Paduka Chew Mei Fun yesterday declared that
the central committee (CC) did not force party
president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to step down
in the committee meeting on Thursday.
Their joint statement said after the Oct 10
extraordinary general meeting (EGM), it was
Ong who said that because of moral obligation,
he would step down and he had requested both
of them and CC member Wong Hock Aun to
draft him a “resignation statement”.
They said the statement was prepared in
the meeting room on the 9th floor of the MCA
headquarters and was handed to Ong.
Wee and Chew say the purpose of having
an EGM was to resolve problems and not to
create a bigger problem.
“We regret that he (Ong) is questioning the
outcome of the (Oct 10) EGM and is refusing
to accept the outcome even though he had said
that he would respect and accept the results of
the EGM,” the statement said.
On Ong’s decision to call another EGM to
decide whether to call for fresh party election
for the CC, the statement said: “What if the out-
come of the next EGM is another 50:50? Do we
need to call for the third EGM to confirm the
result of the second EGM? We urge everyone
to accept the outcome of the (Oct 10) EGM and
stop the argument.
“We also regret that some people had
twisted the facts and had attacked us as well
as other leaders via SMS. For the sake of MCA’s
future, we insist that we are doing the best for
the party,” they said.
In an immediate response to the joint state-
ment, Ong, when met at the parliament lobby,
only said: “That’s good.”
In a separate press conference, newly-
elected deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong
Lai said he was saddened by Ong’s statement
that his party comrades had betrayed him and
forced him to step down.
“I am upset that someone said I have be-
trayed a friend. It was never my intention to
topple him but it was he who told us his inten-
tion to resign,” he said.
Ong had ordered party secretary-general
Datuk Wong Foon Meng to call for an extraor-
dinary general meeting to determine the need
for a fresh party election after the CC meeting
on Thursday.
It was reported that 20 CC members had
signed a letter to force Ong’s resignation.
According to Wong, the EGM would be held
together with the party’s annual general meet-
ing, which must be held by the end of the year.
Liow said he has spoken to Ong a few times
through the phone to persuade him to abandon
his plan to call for a second EGM, as it will
continue to destabilise the party.
“I will continue to talk to the president
so that we will have an amicable solution to
the problem. We are racing against time. My
advice to the president is not to go for EGM so
we must have some better formula than the
EGM.
“Whatever solutions (we have), we need the
president to agree. The president (also) has to
propose his solution and we shall see how it
can work,” he said.
Liow disclosed that most of the delegates
and divisional leaders did not want fresh elec-
tions for the sake of party stability.
On whether he is worried that his party
post will be affected as former deputy president
Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek had appealed to the
Registrar of Societies to recognise his deputy
president’s post, Liow said his promotion was
done based on the party constitution.
The last CC meeting elected Liow to replace
Chua, who had failed to be reinstated to his party
post despite having his membership back.
» Untold story: Ong forced to sack Chua pg7
» How MCA leaders can end impasse Pg 11

Najib presents Merdeka Awards

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Abdul Razak yesterday present-
ed the Merdeka Awards to four recipients
in recognition of their contributions in
various fields.
The recipients are Tun Dr Fatimah
Hashim and Datuk Lim Phaik Gan in the
education and community category, Prof
Dr Zaini Ujang in the academic excellence
achievement category, and Prof Dr Hali-
maton Hamdan in the health, science and
technology category.
Fatimah, 85, is the first woman
appointed to the cabinet while Lim, 91, is
the first woman appointed to the United
Nations.
Zaini, 44, who is Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia vice-chancellor, is chosen for
his contribution to academic and various
environment-related initiatives including
on water supply, sewerage system, river
rehabilitation and industrial ecology.
Halimaton, 53, a UTM chemistry
lecturer is chosen for her contribution
to the development and application of
maerogel as a multi-purpose material with
commercial viability.
The award, presented at the Petronas
Philharmonic Hall, carries a RM500,000
cash, a trophy and certificate.
Najib is the patron of the award.
– Bernama

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Depart-

ment Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala at
Blok Barat, Aras 3, Bangunan Perdana
briefs Putra, 62502 Putrajaya. – Bernama

Envoy: Give PR status to

2nd EGM pointless if no former citizens
solution found: Dr M ROMPIN: The government should con-
BERNAMAPIX

PUTRAJAYA: The MCA second ex-
traordinary general meeting (EGM) will
be pointless if no solution is found to
resolve the party’s leadership crisis,
The recipients ... (from left) Lim, Fatimah, Halimaton and Zaini with the award they received from Najib. said former prime minister Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad.
sider offering permanent resident (PR)
status to more than 200,000 former
Malaysian nationals who are now US
citizens to create a strong economic
network between both countries, said
Malaysian ambassador to the United

Beyonce: I am ... not coming

by Terence Fernandez
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Beyonce’s first con-
cert in Malaysia scheduled for Oct 25
has been postponed indefinitely.
While concert organisers are going
into PR overdrive to contain the situa-
tion and look for an alternative date, it
emerges that external factors and the
artiste’s fickle-minded management
have thrown a spanner in the works
for Kuala Lumpur to be the Grammy-
award winning singer’s first Southeast
Asia date for her “I am …” World Tour.
A statement from organisers
Marctensia attributes the postpone-
ment to the artiste’s camp and said
ticket holders can obtain refunds
between Oct 26 and Nov 14 at the
Ticket Axcess head office here.
“The organisers regret to inform
you that Beyonce ‘I am …’ concert
originally scheduled for Sunday Oct 25
at Bukit Jalil has been postponed to a
future date, to be announced shortly,”
said the e-mailed statement.
“The postponement is solely the
decision of the artiste and has nothing
to do with other external reasons.”
However, sources in Kuala
Lumpur and Singapore tell theSun
that Beyonce’s manager, her father
Matthew Knowles, has imposed
additional conditions for her
to perform here.
“He wants a guar-
antee for her security,
including a personal
assurance from the
government that
there will be no
terrorist threats
or attacks,” said a
source.
A government
source confirmed
that a letter from the
Prime Minister’s De-
partment was issued
to Beyonce’s manage-
ment assuring them of her
safety.
It is understood that the
US$450,000 (RM1.48 million) artiste
fee has already been paid to secure
her.
However, it was revealed in this
paper’s Down2Earth column on Oct 2
that as she could only commit to one
Southeast Asia date, there had been
attempts by Singapore promoters to
get the artiste to perform on the
island republic instead when
she was down there last
month for the F1 Rocks
show.
“They had used
the protests by PAS
to scare Beyonce’s
people,” said a
source.
Marctensia said
the official post-
ponement state-
ment by Beyonce’s
management, Music
World, will be released
this week.It is learnt
that 30,000 tickets have
already been sold.
This is the second time
that the artiste’s trip here has been
scuttled. Last year, she ditched Kuala
Lumpur in favour of Jakarta due to
the strict dress code imposed by the
Malaysian authorities.
“But MCA members are wise and
I am confident they will make a wise
decision,” he told reporters giving a
talk at a discourse organised Universiti
Teknologi Mara Alumni Association at
the Perdana Leadership Foundation
yesterday.
“From my experience, when you face
a challenge at this level, whoever wins,
you will lose members who support the
opposing candidate. – Bernama
Feedback sought on
ways to improve unity
PUTRAJAYA: The government is seek-
ing public feedback and ideas on ways
to improve national unity in Malaysia.
According to a statement from the
office of the Minister in the Prime Min-
ister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu
Koon, the feedback and suggestions
received from the public would assist
discussion on unity and 1Malaysia at
idea-generating sessions or “labs”.
The feedback sought by the Gov-
ernment Transformation Programme
led by the Prime Minister’s Perform-
ance Management and Delivery Unit
(Pemandu) can be submitted to www.
transformation.gov.my via e-mail at
ideas@transformation.gov.my.
The public can also write in to
States Datuk Seri Jamaludin Jarjis.
He said this was because most of
the former Malaysians worked in vari-
ous professional fields and held impor-
tant posts in multi-national companies,
which could benefit Malaysia.
“Although they are no longer
Malaysian citizens and no longer want
to be, their heart still lies in Malaysia.”
– Bernama
Azmin denies having
friction with Zaid
KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat
(PKR) vice-president Mohamed Azmin
Ali had denied claims of friction be-
tween him and party supreme council
member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.
“Where is the friction? If you go over
Datuk Zaid’s statement, is there any
link to me? No.
“This is the media’s interpretation.
It is their role to make it look like there
are problems in the Opposition as well
as in the PKR,” he told reporters at the
Parliament lobby yesterday.
Zaid had given notice to the PKR he
would be going on leave for six months
effective last Friday following the party’s
decision not to allow him to go to Sabah
and Sarawak this weekend as a result of
revolt by divisions there. – Bernama