Phang to settle 'unfinished business'

Lets wait for wednesday and see what tricks the fat monkey will come up with this time !

Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00

KUALA LUMPUR - Following a recent legal victory that freed him from being muzzled, Robert Phang is set to settle some "unfinished business" next week.

The 70-year-old philantrophist intends to pick up where he had left off at the Maya Hotel in Jalan Ampang here on Jan 21, following an ex-parte injunction that was dramatically handed to him during a press conference there.

"There's more to come. We'll tend to unfinished business," Phang told Malaysian Mirror.

Phang, who has been in a war of words with MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong over the PKFZ scandal, said he will continue to speak on the matter, despite being sued by Wee.

He intends to hold a fresh press conference at the hotel on Wednesday.

Another brush with political drama

At the media meeting on Jan 21, representatives from the law firm of Mah-Kamariyah and Philip Koh stopped Phang 15 minutes into the conference and handed him an ex-parte injunction. The injunction was effective for 21 days.

However, on Feb 11, High Court Judge Prasad Sandosham Abraham dismissed Wee’s application for a temporary extension (ad interim) of the injunction, foiling the MCA Youth chief's legal bid to prevent Phang and Star Publications – which was named as second defendant – from further publishing alleged defamatory statements linking him (Wee) to the Port Klang scandal.

Basically, there is no order restraining Phang from speaking until March 10, when the court will hear the inter parte injunction between the parties.

Phang is represented by Gobind Singh Deo and Ang Hean Leng, while Wee, who is also deputy Education Minister, is represented by Ben Chan.

The aborted press conference was not Phang's first brush with political drama played out publicly.

On Jan 11, a live interview on Bernama TV ended prematurely after producers pulled the plug on a talk show, in which Phang was a guest.

Forty minutes in, producers of the Hello Malaysia talk show apparently pulled the plug when Phang started mentioning Wee and the PKFZ scandal.

An admission by Wee

Phang, in his capacity as consultative and anti-corruption panelist of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, maintains that it is his "statutory duty" to urge the authorities to step up its probe into the PKFZ scandal.

This came after Wee admitted that his former consultancy firm Hijau Sekitar Sdn Bhd had been engaged by Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd to produce a feasibility study for the expansion of Port Klang.

Wee said his former company was only tasked to carry out a conceptual study for Port Klang and that no fee was charged.

Wijaya Baru is owned by Tiong King Sing, the CEO of PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd.

'Nothing dramatic in what I say'

Phang, who chairs the Social Care Foundation, said he still "urges" Wee to appear as a witness in the invesgations into the financial scandal, which at last count amounted to RM4.6bil in losses.

Asked on Wee's legal team's failed bid for an interim injunction, Phang said, "There was nothing dramatic in what I was saying, what I had been repeatedly been saying.

"I was calling for Wee to step forward after he admitted that he served on the board of a company that was linked to the scandal."

"In any case, I will continue to speak as my previous encounter with the press was interrupted," said Phang.

On how he felt about the injunction being overturned, Phang said: “We want people to come forward to assist the PKFZ investigations.

"There was nothing illegal in what I was doing. Invesgations must be done thoroughly,” added Phang. - Malaysian Mirror