Response to Tok Guru's statement

Press Release by Wee Choo Keong, MP for Wangsa Maju, on 16 May 2010.

In reply to Tok Guru’s press statement yesterday, first and foremost it must be noted that at the time of the 2008 General Elections (GE) I was invited by YB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to help PKR and to stand as a candidate in the said GE for he knew that I was preparing to take part in the said GE under MDP. For the sake of opposition unity at the material time, I contested under the PKR flag and I was not a member of PKR. After much persuasion by YB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim I joined PKR in April/May 2009.

Yesterday Tok Guru said as follows:

“Akil baligh ini bukan sahaja semestinya dari segi umur seseorang tapi dalam politik pun ada akil baligh juga.  Orang yang lompat parti dan masuk parti politik lain adalah mereka yang tidak akil baligh dalam politik.”

In short, he was accusing me of “jumping party from one to another” and claimed that my action of resigning from PKR was a sign of immaturity.”

First and foremost, I resigned from PKR because of the inconsistencies in PR in handling the sand mining scandal involving Kumpulan Semestra Sdn Bhd (KSSB), a Selangor state owned company. In response to YB Manikavasagam and the support of his stand on this scandal I have issued a statement calling for steps to be taken by the PR to set up a Royal Commission to investigate this scandal. The last straw that “broke the camel’s back” was when after YB Tan Sri Khalid instructed SELCAT to investigate this matter, the following day KSSB issued a press statement to demand YB Manikavasagam to retract his statement on the scandal or faced a defamation suit. This is a clear act of intimidation and gagging of PKR MP, which was unacceptable to me and has caused me to take the stand to resign.

Furthermore, not a single top leader of PR came out to make a comment on this scandal when under their normal standard they will be quick to demand for Royal Commissions to investigate on allegations of scandal.

If taking such a stand as a matter of principle against an issue where the PR Selangor government is not practicing what it preaches is considered immature by Tok Guru then I don’t want to be “matured.”  He also said that I will suffer from the “curses and wrath” from my constituents.

May I remind Tok Guru that in 1975 he won his Parliamentary seat of Pengkalan Chepa under the banner of Barisan Nasional (BN), then in late 1977, he and others from PAS left BN to become opposition. Tok Guru didn’t vacate his parliamentary seat although he was elected under the banner of BN. If one were to go by Tok Guru’s standard and value and his act of jumping from BN to become opposition must definitely be a clear sign of immaturity (not by age). As Tok Guru is still surviving well and in good state of health, it is evident that he did not suffer the “curses and wrath” of his constituents.

Similarly, I believe that the Almighty God will be fair to his subjects and protect all his subjects who took actions based on principles and for that He has protected Tok Guru up to now.

I first joined the political arena in 1985 until now (a span of 25 years), I am taught by my experience that my first duty is to the nation and to uphold the constitution, defend the people against injustices and definitely not to carry on soaking myself in this web of politics of deceit i.e. double talk, double standard, nepotism, cronyism and the activities of the little napoleons or the trendy leftists.

Having experienced and known all these and still remained and carrying on to support  the politics of deceit, then I will be failing in my duty as MP. For that I will be guilty of immaturity as charged by Tok Guru and will suffer the ‘curses and wrath’ of my constituents for betraying them.