Heatwave over bungalow issue

The controversial RM2.8mil bungalow owned by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Pinhorn Road in Penang.

The intense interest and fascination over the Penang Chief Minister’s bungalow issue has to do with the fact that controversies of this kind are usually associated with Umno and Barisan Nasional.

CHIEF Minister Lim Guan Eng’s No 25, Jalan Pinhorn house is arguably the most famous address in Penang today. It is also the hottest political topic in Penang.

The controversial RM2.8mil transaction is the only thing Penangites can talk about. Even the far more sensational 1MDB and RM2.6bil donation issue had not consumed them the same way.

It is partly because it involves the most powerful man in Penang who has the Chinese in the palm of his hand. Another reason is that everyone can see that if Lim and DAP do not handle this issue carefully, it could derail his political career and damage his party.

But most of all, the intensity of interest and fascination over the Chief Minister’s bungalow has to do with the fact that controversies of this kind are usually associated with Umno and Barisan Nasional.

A case in point is the “Balinese palace” that sent a Selangor mentri besar, Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, to prison.

Public opinion is still divided over whether it was right or wrong for Lim to purchase the property at RM275 per square foot while a nearby property was valued at more than RM700 per square foot.

Lim’s attackers have used social media to bombard the public with a barrage of facts and figures, charts and diagrams and all kinds of arguments and scenarios. It has been an extremely well-researched and carefully thought-out attack.

For the first time in a long while, DAP leaders were at a loss over how to defend the issue.

“It has been a PR disaster. We have been put on the defensive, we’re not sure of what is coming next,” said a Penang DAP politician.

The issue has reached a critical point, hence, the necessity for a closed-door briefing by Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo and Lim for the party’s assemblymen and MPs yesterday.

Gobind, regarded as the party’s leading legal authority, is concerned that party leaders do not contradict each other and that statements made must be coordinated. He also briefed them on the political implications of the matter.

He is also believed to have advised Lim to be cautious in his public pronouncements and that he should preferably read from texts when touching on the above issues. The idea is not to release counter evidence but to counter any allegations.

As one Penang lawyer pointed out: “Some of the explanations offered so far have only made things messier for them.”

For instance, Lim’s former political secretary and Komtar MP Ng Wei Aik defended his boss yesterday, saying that Lim is an accountant, not a property valuer, and could not be expected to value a piece of land according to its market price.

In fact, an earlier statutory declaration (SD) issued by the former houseowner Phang Li Koon drew mixed reviews.

The hardcore DAP supporters said she had cleared the air and that the truth was out for everyone to see.

But the less enamoured found the SD to be full of holes and were incredulous at her claim that she did not check the property value when selling the house.

Lim’s “media tour” of his house was proclaimed by his supporters as proof that he had nothing to hide. But it was hardly appropriate given the gravity of the allegations.

Arguments like these have not been very helpful to Lim’s cause and the perception is that the party is trying to buy time so that it can get its act together and turn the tables against the other side.

The latest allegation is perhaps the most dangerous yet and it came from Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the Urban Wellness, Housing and Local Government Minister.

Abdul Rahman claimed to have evidence of corruption involving the state government in the sale of Taman Manggis, a plot of state land in George Town meant for low-cost housing but which was sold to a company to build a medical centre-cum-hotel.

The minister told Parliament that the company known as KLIDC does not intend to develop the land but is planning to resell it to a third party and that he would hand over the evidence to MACC.

Lim denied the allegation, insisting that KLIDC is still the owner and has never made a request to resell.

The latest attack seems to suggest that the Jalan Pinhorn bungalow and Taman Manggis land are jigsaw pieces in a bigger picture although no one can quite connect the pieces yet.

If it is any consolation to Lim, the average Chinese in Penang are still with him.

They are loathe to topple a Chinese Chief Minister and many of them argue that if there is wrongdoing, it is small compared with some of the Barisan-related scandals. Is this what the Chinese sense of morality is about – different rules for different people?

Lim is said to be hypersensitive about being asked to go on leave while the investigations are on.

His supporters say the Prime Minister did not need to go on leave when he was being investigated so why should the Chief Minister have to do it?

The Chief Minister, said the above DAP politician, is not the sort to give up or give in and intends to fight the attacks head-on.