KUALA LUMPUR – DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng has once again had to deny having any family ties with former Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng and ex-Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
In a press conference at Parliament today, Guan Eng slammed Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Siti Mastura Mohamad, the Kepala Batas MP, for repeating the false claims during a PAS programme in Kemaman, Terengganu.
He did not mention when the event was held, but he showed the press a video of Mastura’s speech, in which she asserts that his father, DAP stalwart Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, is a relative of Chin Peng and Lee.
Mastura also claimed that several members of DAP’s top leadership were related to one another, claiming that Guan Eng’s wife is cousins with Teresa Kok (Seputeh-PH), while also name-dropping DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke (Seremban-PH), Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming (Teluk Intan-PH), and Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (Beruas-PH).
“It is evident that this (Mastura’s) overboard and extreme statement is slander against me, my wife and the top leadership of DAP,” Guan Eng, who is Bagan MP, said.
“From the tone of her voice in the video, it is evident that she is attempting to personally undermine us leaders (with) a racial undertone.
“Once again, we’re seeing how PAS uses extremist and racial politics, to the point where they dare to issue such slander which they themselves know is baseless. They shouldn’t be using such dirty and disgusting politics, we’re supposed to be based on facts, not slander.”
Guan Eng said Mastura has until Thursday to furnish evidence to prove her claims.
If she fails to do so, “further necessary action” will be taken, he said.
Previously, in 2017, Kit Siang, had to deny being a cousin of Chin Peng and Lee, a claim spread by Umno members or supporters, in a chart shared via WhatsApp.
Kit Siang had pointed out then that Chin Peng, who was born in Sitiawan, Perak, in 1924 as Ong Boon Hua, was part of the Hokchia clan.
Lee, on the other hand, was born in Singapore in 1923 as a part of the Hakka clan, while Kit Siang is a Hokkien born in Batu Pahat, Johor in 1941. – November 7, 2023