It would appear that one MIC Minister is better than four MCA Ministers and one Gerakan Minister combined - and this is surely a shame to MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Gerakan President, Datuk Dr. Lim Keng Yaik and the other three MCA Ministers, Datuk Chua Jui Meng, Datuk Ong Ka Ting and Datuk Fong Chan Onn.
This will not be the first time when Samy Vellu has shown that he is more vigorous than the four MCA Ministers and one Gerakan Minister combined in raising the people’s grievances, as in the case of the increase of the compensation from RM50 to RM120 per pig culled during the Nipah virus epidemic last year.
However, Samy Vellu should not be drawing the attention of the Prime Minister to the Sungei Besi cemetry issue at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow but to ask the Cabinet to make a formal decision to declare the cemetery, which convers 439 acres and contains the graves of historical figures such as Kapitan Yap Ah Loy and the burial grounds of various ethnic and religious groups such as Kwang Tung Association, Hokkein Association, Roman Catholic, Sri Lankan Buddhist and Japanese cemeteries and a Hindu crematorium, as a national cultural heritage.
The Cabinet should recognise that the Sungei Besi cemetry issue is not
a Chinese issue, but a Malaysian issue affecting all communities and involving
historic, cultural and environmental factors as well.
The Barisan Nasional Government, in particular the MCA and Gerakan
Ministers and MPs, should respond to the speech by DAP MP for Kepong,
Dr. Tan Seng Giaw in Parliament yesterday and explain why they had
acted with such lack of transparency, accountability, sensitivity and responsibility
on the issue in going against the mainstream of public opinion by
lending support to the relocation of the Sungei Besi cemetry to Semenyih.
(18/7/2000)