DUN Sitting (Day Eight): Dr Chan says rep should not have touched on his and his daughter’s personal affairs

(Nov 10, 2010)

by Johnson K Saai.

ADJOURNED SINE DIE: Dr Chan waving to reporters before getting into his car after DUN was adjourned yesterday.

KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan would have regretted it if he had allowed an interruption by Violet Yong (DAP-Pending) during his winding-up speech as the Minister of Industrial Development on the final day of the State Legislative Assembly sitting yesterday.

This was because Yong, who was granted the floor when she sought for point of order, instead of clarifying issues affecting the state and the people in general, touched on matters concerning the minister’s and his daughter’s private lives.

She first started her remarks by congratulating Dr Chan for his “second marriage” before asking the minister why his daughter had been able to get a piece of land in BDC area at a low price.

In response, Dr Chan said that he would not answer her because it was a private matter, and she should have sought clarification on subjects affecting the state instead of his and his daughter’s personal matters.

“I am not going to answer you on that because I also don’t ask you who your boyfriend is or how many boyfriends you have. I also don’t want to know how many you have got because that is something private,” he said, before continuing with the final part of his speech.

Dr Chan, who is Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president, when approached for comments after the sitting, however, refused to elaborate on the matter.

“I am just disappointed because it is obvious that the opposition prefers to make personal attacks to gain political mileage. I am not going to answer any question on that kind of thing,” he said.

However, he was fortunate that the brief interruption by the member for Pending was the first and only point of order throughout his two winding-up speeches.

In his capacity as the Minister of Tourism and Heritage, he spoke at length on the DAP’s negative political culture that should be rejected by the people of Sarawak.

He said that in the just-concluded sitting, the DAP representatives were obviously placing their personal agenda and that of their party above that of Sarawakians.

“This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that they are openly against the motion on the white paper on matters which may jeopardise unity, peace, harmony, tranquility and security of Sarawakians arising from the activities and/or actions of certain irresponsible and undesirable individuals or groups or organisations from outside the state.

“The people can now clearly see for themselves that the DAP leaders in Sarawak are more concerned about their selfish personal agenda and are worried that their leaders or supporters from outside Sarawak might be affected,” he said.

He said actually there was nothing for Sarawak DAP to fear if their leaders, members or supporters behaved gentlemanly, respectful and conform to the rules, regulations and laws of Sarawak.

“This shows that DAP cannot be trusted nor depended upon to protect the rights, interests and well-being of Sarawakians. The Sarawak DAP will protect their Semenanjung Malaysia leaders’ interests first and Sarawak second.

“This shows they are more interested in their personal agenda and they do not care whether the interests and well-being of Sarawakians are jeopardised or not. They are truly selfish and all peace-loving Sarawakians can now see their true colours,” he said.

As such, he said, it was time for the people to reject all the candidates standing under the Semenanjung-based opposition parties.

He claimed they would only listen to their political masters from Semenanjung Malaysia and forget about the interests of Sarawak people and their well-being.

“At least all the state BN components are truly Sarawak parties. We have been and shall continue to defend and protect the rights, interests and well-being of all the people here.

“We shall stay united and will not allow anyone from outside the state to bully us. At least in BN, Umno promises not to come into Sarawak as long as we are a stable and strong BN party,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, unlike DAP, PKR and PAS, SUPP had been doing a lot to help the people of Sarawak but most of the time they would not go and tell everyone what they had been doing.

He stressed that the DAP had nothing except creating trouble, inciting hatred and ill-will and trying to create misunderstanding among the people.

“The DAP always try to cover up their no-result, empty talk and lip service by putting the blame on SUPP. They have no track record,” he added.

He said that the DAP leaders here should not make too much noise but should go and tell their counterparts, especially in Penang, to first fulfil their promises and pledges they have made to the people in the 2008 general elections.