Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, 3^rd May 2009: 

Liow Tiong Lai’s IQ is highly suspect when he could not understand simple English

The IQ of the Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who is MCA Vice President and Penang MCA State chief, is highly suspect when he could not understand simple English.

In Georgetown yesterday, Liow challenged me to clearly state my stand on the Cabinet’s recent decision that minors follow the common religion of their parents at the time of marriage when one spouse opts to convert.

He even made the statement that I am at odds with the DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh over the matter on the ground that Karpal had clearly stated his support for the Cabinet’s decision, implying that I had opposed the Cabinet decision.

I presume that before he issued such a challenge, Liow would have combed through my blog and he could not find any statement from me on the Cabinet decision, let alone support for it.

If so, then Liow must have a very low IQ as not to understand what I have blogged –to be confused by what should be crystal-clear in my statements.

I would advise Liow to return to my blog to go through the various statements and if he still could not find my expression of support for the Cabinet decision, I offer to give Liow a free tutorial to understand basic English and to take him through my statements to show him how he had committed the colossal blunder of not understanding simple English.

My grouse with the Cabinet is not over the decision it had made, which is highly commendable although after five years of procrastination since the Everest mountaineer Moorthy conversion controversy, but the Cabinet’s failure to send out a clear signal that its decision on the “common religion” is not a meaningless one.

For instance, it is 12 days since the Cabinet decision on April 22 on the “common religion” as well as for the return of her year-old baby daughter, Prasana Diksa to Ipoh kindergarten teacher Indira Ghandhi, the latest case of controversial unilateral and illegal Islamic conversion of underaged children, but Indira is still pining for her baby daughter who was snatched from her for more than a month by her estranged husband who had converted to Islam.

What Liow Tiong Lai should “clearly explain” is why the MCA, like Gerakan, is playing the double game of supporting the Cabinet’s “common religion” at the national level but not at the Perak state level!

The reason why Indira has not been able to get back her year-old daughter from her estranged husband K. Pathmanathan, now known as Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, is because the administration of usurper Perak Mentri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir, supported by Perak Barisan Nasional component parties like MCA, Gerakan and MIC, is not fully behind the Cabinet decision.

In fact, the Zambry administration is supporting Pathmanathan in not returning Prasana to Indira’s custody.

Can Liow explain why the Perak MCA leaders are allowed to go against the Cabinet decision by supporting the usurper Zambry’s administration on the Indira case?

Is the article in one MCA newspaper today saying that there is nothing wrong with the MCA playing such a double game – at the national level supporting the Cabinet decision while at the Perak state level supporting the usurper Zambry administration in adopting an opposite stance – the official stand of the MCA leadership?

I have stated that the three Pakatan Rakyat parties of DAP, PAS and PKR have not yet been able to reach a common stand on the Cabinet decision on the “common religion”.

There is however a consensus that in the Indira Ghandi case, the custody of year-old baby daughter Prasana should be restored to the mother.

Pakatan Rakyat parties do not hide our differences when we disagree with each other. DAP will continue to discuss with PAS and PKR leaders to try to reach a common understanding on the Cabinet decision on “common religion”, but the DAP will never play the MCA double game of national leaders supporting the Cabinet decision at the national level while secretly the Perak MCA state leaders do the exact opposite.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor