Did he Wee or didn't he?

My comments in red . Joshua Teng Saturday, 16 January 2010 04:23

COMMENT IT is a great disappointment to read reports that a politician had interfered in a live talk show on Bernama TV recently which was to discuss corruption. The show titled ‘Graft and Corruption: The Diabolical Challenges Ahead’ had to be cut short after the crew of the Friday’s Hello Malaysia talk show aired over Astro 502 were purportedly harassed and intimidated periodically throughout the transmission. Robert Phang, a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory panel member alleged that Deputy Education Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong had tried to stop the show fearing he would expose the MCA Youth chief’s involvement in the Port Klang Free Zone controversy. If the allegation is true, it would be most unbecoming of a deputy minister to interfere in the dissemination of news and views of the people to the people. Free press should prevail and not curtailed in this country unless Wee has a different perception of freedom of press. If one is transparent and truthful, there is nothing to fear. But those with skeletons in the closet will be fearful of things said of them. Legal action caution The deputy minister said that no one had called Bernama to cut short the programme. He claimed that before the start of the show, someone had sent him a SMS which was purportedly sent out by the MCA’s infocom asking members and central delegates to watch the programme. On receiving the text message, Wee said that he informed Bernama that he would take legal action against the “speaker and station” if defamatory statements were made against him. It is sad to note that the live talk show had ended 20 minutes prematurely after the producers pulled the plug on the one-hour show last Friday. Robert Phang was a panelist with The Sun deputy editor Terence Fernandez. There also appears to be much pressure asserted on the TV station when the re-runs at 3.30am, 6.30am and 8.30am the following day were replaced with another interview after a person of high authority at Bernama TV insisted on it. Whether the person of authority at the TV station was acting on his own initiative or had received instructions from the top is not known. But one thing for sure is that lately Wee had been entangled in a web of deceit after he denied having any links with Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Tiong King Sing. I will add this according to my sources of information that the Minister of Communication Datuk sri Dr Rais Yatim is very annoyed that this Deputy Minister ( no name mentioned ) has interfered into his Ministry by having the talk program ending premature without being informed as the Minister of that Ministry . Also the panelist who was doing the show was one of Dr Rais Yatim's personal confidante . They are annoyed in the program being short circuited . I believe they are conducting an internal investigation into this fiasco and I believe this Dep. Minister who had the talk show "lights out " will be censured for interfering into someone's else Ministry . I am also told that instructions have been given that there will not be a repeat of this disgusting ending as it reflects poorly on the govt . Heads will roll ! so will be the one who pulled the plug . Wee has acted to protect himself , I believe he has a lot to answer . I think more will be exposed of his personality , his links as he gets rattled by all these disclosures . Its like trying to do another wrong to make it right . Two wrongs don't make a right . Looks like the dying days of Pompeii for this politician as the curtain closes down . Up till today he has not responded to the accusations on why his name is still listed by the SSM as a share holder in Hijau Sekitar . See articles below ... He had been faced with a barrage of criticisms from his very own youth leaders who had asked him to explain his media statements of late which they claimed had confused MCA members and the public. Sometime in December last year, Wee had denied any link to the PKFZ project. He then admitted on Christmas Eve that his former company Hijau Sekitar Sdn Bhd provided consultancy work on Port Klang for free. MCA Youth central committee member Ding Keng Long then challenged Wee over inconsistencies in his statements saying that within a week or so, Wee had retracted that and denied saying that he had ever said he did pro bono work. Wee’s consultancy firm Hijau Sekitar, together with four other firms, were appointed by Wijaya Baru to conduct a feasibility study on the need for port development in Port Klang. Wijaya Baru is the parent company of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd which developed the controversial billion-ringgit PKFZ project. Interview an educational exercise Wee also claimed that he had long relinquished his role with Hijau Sekitar but then another revelation came about when another MCA youth central committee member did a company search and to his dismay found the deputy education minister still named as a shareholder (owning 490,000 plus shares in Hjau Sekitar). It is not right for me to cast any aspersion as to whether any politician actually did abuse his position to get the TV station to cut short the programme or to replace the re-runs of the talk show with another interview. But my guess is as good as yours. On Wee’s outburst that the MCA’s infocom had deliberately sent out sms to MCA members and central delegates to watch the talk show on corruption, I don’t see anything wrong, even if there is any truth in it. In fact many MCA personalities when ever they appear in Astro or in Bernama , like for example when Datuk Ti appears on Bernama in Ni Se Mok Sua , there's always a tendency for them to sms everyone informing them to watch the program . To encourage more people to watch a live talk show on the subject of corruption is very educational and as the deputy education minister, Wee should encourage such lively discussions on the topic. Surely the administration of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is all for upholding a just and transparent government. It will mark the beginning of the end for democracy and free press if politicians are allowed to dictate or issue threats to influence reports be it in the print media, radio or TV stations. Read more here : . MD: Wee sold off controlling stake in Hijau Sekitar in 2008 . Chia : Wee needs to explain why he's still on firm's list . More Questions than Answers