I am surprised that Heng Seai Kie is asking me to apologise for a banner put up by PKR during the Permatang Pauh by-election. I have no intention of doing so. It is ridiculous for the MCA Wanita chief and Deputy Minister to claim that the Chinese community does not have any reason to oppose the GST and that Malays will pay more GST because they have more children. GST affects all Malaysians regardless of race and religion.
In the quest to win Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election, BN and UMNO has lost both honour and dignity by the antics of their Ministers making lies, threats and racist attacks against the Penang state government. Agriculture Minister Ismail Sabri Yaacub even threatened that farmers in Permatang Pauh will not get any funds if UMNO lost.
The Penang state government will rebut the lies, made with racist overtones, by BN and UMNO Ministers and Deputy Ministers during the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign with facts and figures. Just because I am the only non-Malay Chief Minister in Malaysia, does not give UMNO Ministers the right or license to bully me by launching provocative racist attacks with lies.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin led the charge by claiming that the state government failed to look after bumi contractors. The Penang state government then revealed that since 2008, RM8.3 billion in contracts were awarded under our open competitive tender system. Of this RM8.3 billion, RM7.8 billion or 94% of total contracts, were awarded to bumis.
Muhyiddin kept silent and did not dare to respond to this unrebuttable fact that 94% of state government contracts were awarded to bumi companies. Even the Permatang Pauh UMNO candidate Suhaimie Shabudin who is a contractor, became mute by not daring to answer the press on whether companies which he is involved, had benefited or obtained state government contracts.
The RM8.3 billion of contracts awarded and the 94% increase in investment to RM 48.2 billion from 2008-2014, as compared to the similar 7-year period of 2001-7 of RM24.9 billion, has quickly disproved BN’s claims that there was no development in Permatang Pauh or Penang. For Permatang Pauh RM8.2 million cash was disbursed to the voters, and RM44.4 million has been spent on infrastructure such as roads, drainage, market upgrading and community halls since 2008.
This was then followed by attacks against the Penang state government for marginalising Islam. Again we showed proof that allocations given by PR state government more than doubled compared to what was approved by the previous BN state government, from RM 25.5 million by BN in 2008 to RM 52.2 million by PR in 2014.
The latest allegations by Deputy Minister for Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid denying that the Federal government had asked for a water tariff hike, even though Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara(SPAN) had been reported in the papers on 25 April 2015 as calling for a water tariff hike nation-wide. Similarly Works Minister Fadillah Yusof claimed that the Federal government road grants given to Penang, were not utilised fully with only RM12.8 million utilised out of the RM27.37 million granted for the first 3 months as at 31 March 2015. Fadillah added that last year, Penang only used RM 53 million out of the RM 64 million granted. This is untrue and will rebutted with facts that showed that the road grants were fully used.
Winning and losing in by-elections is normal and part of the democratic process. As participants in the democratic process, politicians must respect the decision of the voters. A responsible leadership will ensure that it must win with honour and lose with dignity. Whether BN and UMNO finally wins in Permatang Pauh, their lies, threats and racist attacks have shown that they have clearly lost both their honour and dignity.