Posted on

Liong Sik’s allegation reinforces my call for RCI to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion “mother of all scandals”

The allegation by former MCA President and former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik that he was “wrongly accused” and charged of corruption in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal even before the Attorney-General’s Chambers had obtained sufficient evidence reinforces my call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion “mother of all scandals”.

In an interview yesterday, Ling, who was acquitted last October, of all charges of corruption in connection with the PKFZ scandal, revealed that he is writing a book about his PKFZ “trials and tribulations” and had decided on the title of the book: “How Low Can You Go”.

Ling said that due to his bad experience, his confidence in the country’s judicial system was shaken.

Ling sounds very self-serving and even hypocritical as he must bear full responsibility for the state of the system of justice in Malaysia today, as he was part of the Mahathir government which precipitated the judicial crisis in 1988 when the then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah were arbitrarily and unconstitutionally sacked. Malaysia has never yet recovered from that judicial crisis 26 years ago. Continue reading “Liong Sik’s allegation reinforces my call for RCI to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion “mother of all scandals””

Posted on

Malaysia must stop being an international laughing stock as “land of mega financial scandals without criminals” with all patriotic Malaysians demanding that those responsible for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal must be identified and brought to book

I would have won if someone had betted with me whether the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) “mother of all scandals” had ever been raised or discussed at the second 2014 Cabinet meeting yesterday, especially after the shock double acquittal of two former Transport Ministers in their multiple charges in connection with the scandal.

On Monday, former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy walked free from the High Court from cheating charges in connection with the PKFZ scandal, the second former Transport Minister to be acquitted in less than three months in connection with the PKFZ scandal.

But clearly, none in the Cabinet meeting yesterday wanted to rock the boat and everybody prefered to “Let sleeping dogs lie”!

But this irresponsible, craven and cowardly attitude cannot be acceptable to Malaysians who want to see the fulfillment of the Malaysian Dream – a united, harmonious, just, competitive and great plural Malaysia nation built on the principles of tolerance, justice, freedom, integrity and good governance where there is zero tolerance for corruption.
Continue reading “Malaysia must stop being an international laughing stock as “land of mega financial scandals without criminals” with all patriotic Malaysians demanding that those responsible for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal must be identified and brought to book”

Posted on

Call for bi-partisan support in March/April Parliament for a RCI into RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal or Malaysia will be international laughing stock as “land of mega-scandals without criminals”

Anyone game for a bet – whether the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) “mother of all scandals” had ever been raised or discussed at the Cabinet meeting today?

I am not privy to what happened in Cabinet today or any other information covered by the Official Secrets Act (OSA) but I would not hesitate betting that the subject of PKFZ scandal never cropped up in today’s Cabinet meeting – although two days ago, a second former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy walked free from High Court when the Attorney-General withdrew all charges against him in connection with the PKFZ scandal.

The acquittal of Chan, following the acquittal last October of Chan’s predecessor as former Transport Minister Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik of three charges of cheating the government in relation to the PKFZ scandal, should be urgent and weighty subjects for today’s Cabinet meeting – that is if the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is serious about the wanting to make corruption part of Malaysia’s past not its future, or the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department on governance and integrity, Datuk Paul Low is making a difference in Cabinet and government not just a cipher and the post-13GE Najib Cabinet is a Transformation Cabinet with anti-corruption as one of its top priority agendas and not the worst “half-past six Cabinet” in history.

I would imagine that the Cabinet Ministers and the top Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders must have sighed with relief at the double acquittal of the two former Transport Ministers marking their success to keep the “mother of all scandals” under wraps and the last thing anyone of them wants to do is to “stir the hornets’ nest” and give the demands for accountability a fresh lease of life. Continue reading “Call for bi-partisan support in March/April Parliament for a RCI into RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal or Malaysia will be international laughing stock as “land of mega-scandals without criminals””

Posted on

The tragedy and farce that is the PKFZ

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 13, 2014

This is a fact of Malaysian political life: apart from the government’s favourite target Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, all other ministers or former ministers have never seen the inside of a jail.

There will be a few near misses here – one that comes to mind is the 1982 murder of an Umno politician – and there but no one pays the ultimate price for whatever they did while in office.

Today, former MCA deputy president and retired minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy joined the long list of former ministers who were spared incarceration when prosecutors dropped three cheating charges against him in connection with the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project. Continue reading “The tragedy and farce that is the PKFZ”

Posted on

Absence of appeal in Liong Sik acquittal suspicious, say lawyer, MP

By Ida Lim
The Malaysian Insider
November 9, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) decision to not challenge Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s acquittal over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal was dubious when it appeals even redundant cases, according to two critics today.

When contacted today, civil rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan described the decision as “baffling, to say the least”, contrasting it to what he categorised as the AGC’s swiftness in appealing against court rulings that were in favour of human rights.

“The AGC has always been quick to appeal against the decisions that promote human rights and constitutionalism and also decisions in favour of opposition politicians, but when it is a decision that concerns allegations of corruption against a former Cabinet member, the AGC has decided not to pursue the appeal,” he told The Malay Mail Online in an email reply.

“As an example; in the UKM4 case the AGC decided to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal in favour of the 4 former students, even when the matter has become academic as the law has been amended and the 4 are no longer students,” he added.

Syahredzan was referring to the case of four Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) students who were charged under now-amended Section 15 (5)(a) of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) for their alleged presence during the 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election campaign.

The High Court found that the clause barring university students’ participation in politics was unconstitutional, but the matter was brought by the AGC to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court, where the apex court struck out the case on November 22, 2012 as it was by then “academic”.

Today, Syahredzan also questioned the rationale behind the AGC’s decision. Continue reading “Absence of appeal in Liong Sik acquittal suspicious, say lawyer, MP”

Posted on

Liow Tiong Lain hanya berminat untuk bersaing dengan Chua Soi Lek bagi mendapatkan undi perwakilan MCA dari kalangan penyokong Liong Sik bukannya untuk membentuk budaya politik baru yang berintegriti dan anti-korupsi

Sama ada Timbalan Presiden MCA Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai tidak faham bahasa yang mudah dan nyata atau beliau sengaja berpura-pura tidak faham kerana ada muslihat politik tertentu.

Apa muslihat politik berkenaan? Apa lagi kalau bukan untuk bersaing dengan Presiden MCA Datuk Chua Soi Lek bagi mendapatkan undi perwakilan MCA dari kalangan penyokong Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik dalam pemilihan parti MCA bulan Disember nanti dan bukannya untuk membentuk budaya politik baru yang berintegriti dan anti-korupsi.
Saya tidak rasa kenyataan saya yang berjudul “Dua mesej Belanjawan 2014 – Malaysia terus menjadi negara yang “mempunyai jenayah besar, tetapi tiada penjenayah” dan para menteri pula kebal daripada tindakan undang-undang walaupun cuai dalam tugas” berkenaan keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur yang membebaskan Liong Sik daripada tuduhan menipu kerajaan dalam skandal Zon Perdagangan Bebas Pelabuhan Klang (PKFZ) yang melibatkan berbilion-bilion ringgit itu adalah kenyataan yang rumit dan sukar untuk difahami sehingga membingungkan Tiong Lai.

Seperti yang saya sebutkan dalam kenyataan itu, “Keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur itu membawa dua mesej yang memberi kesan langsung terhadap Belanjawan 2014, Rancangan Transformasi Nasional Najib dan arah tuju negara dan ekonomi Malaysia di masa depan,” iaitu:

  • Malaysia terus menjadi negara yang “mempunyai jenayah besar, tetapi tiada penjenayah”, di mana rakyat Malaysia menjadi mangsa korupsi dan skandal raksasa dalam keadaan kerajaan dan agensi pencegahan rasuah, iaitu Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia, tidak mampu berbuat apa-apa untuk memerangi korupsi yang melibatkan “jerung” dan bukan hanya “ikan bilis”; dan

  • Menteri kabinet kini kebal daripada hukuman jika mereka cuai dalam menjalankan tugas rasmi, termasuk tugasan di peringkat kabinet.

Saya percaya jika 2,400 perwakilan MCA diberikan peluang untuk menyatakan pandangan secara rahsia, sebahagian besar mereka akan bersetuju dengan dua kesimpulan yang saya kemukakan berkenaan keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur dan Belanjawan 2014 itu.
Continue reading “Liow Tiong Lain hanya berminat untuk bersaing dengan Chua Soi Lek bagi mendapatkan undi perwakilan MCA dari kalangan penyokong Liong Sik bukannya untuk membentuk budaya politik baru yang berintegriti dan anti-korupsi”

Posted on

Liow Tiong Lai only interested in competing with Chua Soi Lek for Liong Sik’s MCA delegates’ vote-bank rather than striving for a new political culture of public integrity with zero tolerance for corruption

Either the MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai does not understand simple English (which has become quite commonplace at all levels of the Barisan Nasional political structure) or he is just being deliberately obtuse because he has a political axe to grind.

What is this political axe for Tiong Lai to “grind”? What else but competing with MCA President Datuk Chua Soi Lek for Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik’s MCA delegates’ vote-bank in the upcoming MCA party elections in December rather than striving for a new political culture of public integrity with zero tolerance for corruption.

I do not think my statement entitled “Duo message of 2014 Budget – Malaysia continues to be land of ‘heinous crime without criminals’ and Ministers enjoy immunity and impunity for Ministerial dereliction of duties” on the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s acquittal and discharge of Liong Sik for cheating the government over the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project scandal is so complex or difficult to understand as to confound Tiong Lai. Continue reading “Liow Tiong Lai only interested in competing with Chua Soi Lek for Liong Sik’s MCA delegates’ vote-bank rather than striving for a new political culture of public integrity with zero tolerance for corruption”

Posted on

PKFZ scandal: So who cheated the govt?

Jeswan Kaur | October 27, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

How could a minister not be accountable for misinformation or manipulation of figures and facts as evident in the document he would be signing?

COMMENT

Hindraf-HRP leader P Uthayakumar has written to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak saying he was being tortured by the Prisons Department.

Uthayakumar who is serving a 30-month jail sentence for sedition claimed he was made to sleep on the floor.

But the Prisons Department begs to differ, saying Uthayakumar had been placed in solitary confinement for a total of 13 days on two separate occasions as he had “refused to take instructions”.

Just what were the ‘instructions’ was not revealed by the department. Did Uthayakumar’s plea for a humane treatment melt Najib’s heart? It never did.

While Uthayakumar languishes behind the cold walls of a prison, life was so much the better for former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik, 70, who was as pleased as a punch to be waking home a free man after he was acquitted of charges of having cheated Putrajaya in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) land deal. Continue reading “PKFZ scandal: So who cheated the govt?”

Posted on

Duo message of 2014 Budget – Malaysia continues to be land of “heinous crime without criminals” and Ministers enjoy immunity and impunity for Ministerial dereliction of duties

A few hours before the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak presented his 2014 Budget in Parliament announcing the regressive and controversial 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 2015, the Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted and discharged former MCA President and Transport Minister Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik for cheating the government over the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project scandal.

Without going into the details of the case against Liong Sik, the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision carries two messages which have a direct bearing on the 2014 Budget, Najib’s National Transformation Plan and the future direction of the Malaysian nation and economy, viz:

• Malaysia continues to be a land of “heinous crimes without criminals”, with Malaysians victimized by mega corruption and scandals which neither the government nor the anti-corruption agency, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), could do anything to combat when confronted with “grand corruption” involving “big sharks” instead of “ikan bilis” in the Malaysian corruption waters; and

• Cabinet Ministers are now given a blank cheque to enjoy immunity and impunity for whatever dereliction of duties in the course of official duties, including up to Cabinet level.

Continue reading “Duo message of 2014 Budget – Malaysia continues to be land of “heinous crime without criminals” and Ministers enjoy immunity and impunity for Ministerial dereliction of duties”

Posted on

Soi Lek stays silent as party roiled by sacking of former port chief

By Ida Lim
The Malay Mail Online
October 4, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek refused last night to confirm or deny reports that former port boss Datuk Lee Hwa Beng had been sacked from MCA for inviting DAP political foe Lim Kit Siang to the launch of his whistleblowing book on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Last night the MCA president ran the gauntlet of reporters who had door-stopped him after an event in Petaling Jaya, and stayed silent amid a barrage of questions thrown at him over the reported sacking of Lee.

Lee, who was last week elected to be a national delegate to the Chinese party’s polls later this year, had taken to Twitter to broadcast his sacking earlier yesterday afternoon while the MCA central committee was holding a news conference.

“Just heard @drchuaSL just sacked me as an MCA member. Am honored as he see me as a threat once I was voted in as a national delegate,” the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman wrote on his Twitter account @hwabeng.

“Was told I was sacked as MCA member 4 inviting @limkitsiang 2 launch my PKFZ bk.But why now?Must b when I was elected a nat delegate last wk,” he added in a series of tweets in reply to a bombardment of questions.

However, when contacted by The Malay Mail Online over the phone, Lee said there was “no letter, no notice” informing him of the sacking.

He declined to comment further until he found out the reason behind his sacking from the political party. Continue reading “Soi Lek stays silent as party roiled by sacking of former port chief”

Posted on

The difference between Pakatan and BN

— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 08, 2012

JULY 8 — In terms of scale, the Talam Corporation Bhd debt settlement pales in comparison with the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and Scorpene submarine cases.

The mainstream newspapers have been going at great guns with the so-called TalamCorp scandal. Understandbly because they are partial to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. As for the alternative media, the reverse is true as some are partial to BN’s political foes, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Yet, there’s a marked difference between PR and BN which can be seen by how each one has serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement and their respective reaction to the claims.

In the TalamCorp case, PR leaders are prepared to have a White Paper on the matter although it is puzzling why there has not been one since the case came up in 2010.

And PR MPs such as Tony Pua and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and even Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim are all willing to lift the veil of corporate secrecy and explain the numbers to the public. After all, it involves public institutions and funds from the time the deal was struck when Selangor was under BN rule.

Transparency is key to all this. Continue reading “The difference between Pakatan and BN”

Posted on

DAP wants ‘clueless’ PKA boss to disclose meeting minutes

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 23, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — The DAP today demanded all minutes of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) meetings in 2009 and 2010 be made public, while accusing its chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poh and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha of misleading the public over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bonds payment fiasco.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said Teh was merely attempting to protect his boss Kong on Friday when the former denied allegations that the minister had been the one who had overturned PKA’s decision not to pay turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) bondholders.

“Teh must be either completely clueless about what had happened in 2009 and 2010 or he is just lying through his teeth to protect the boss Kong who appointed him to his current position,” Pua said in a statement here.

The DAP publicity secretary then cited a media report on July 28, 2010 that said it was Kong who had used his ministerial powers to override PKA’s decision to refuse to make the final RM222.58 million to the special purpose vehicle set up by KDSB to raise funds from the market. Continue reading “DAP wants ‘clueless’ PKA boss to disclose meeting minutes”

Posted on

A Pakatan Rakyat government in Putrajaya will set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal

Firstly, I thank the organisers for inviting me to this book launch for Dato’ Lee Hwa Beng’s publication “PKFZ: A Nation’s Trust Betrayed” (written with co-authoress Lee Siew Lian) in the company of Datuk Ong Tee Keat, one of the early “transformation” ministers in the “transformation” Cabinet of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

I commend Dato’ Lee Hwa Beng for his book on his three-year “national service” as Port Klang Authority Chairman after the 2008 general elections to try to pry open the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to promote a culture of accountability, integrity and good governance.

Unravelling the full horrors of the PKFZ scandal – which I have described as not only “a can of worms” but “a swamp of crocodiles” – and bringing to justice those responsible for this “heinous crime” against the nation is, however, a still very uncompleted work.

The PKFZ scandal was one of the dominating issues in Parliament before and after the 12th general elections on March 8, 2008.

On 27th November 2007, I moved a censure motion in Parliament by way of a token RM10 salary cut against the then Transport Minister, Datuk Chan Kong Choy for the consistent wall of denial, equivocation and prevarication in refusing to give full and proper parliamentary accounting for the PKFZ scandal. Continue reading “A Pakatan Rakyat government in Putrajaya will set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal”

Posted on

DAP says MCA minister dismantling steps to uncover PKFZ scandal

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 16, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The DAP today accused Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha of conspiring to reverse previous efforts to reclaim losses from the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Publicity chief Tony Pua claimed the Port Klang Authority (PKA), which comes under the Transport Ministry, has decided to withdraw all legal action against turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) for failing to carry out RM1.6 billion in work.

He said the MCA secretary-general “is doing everything in his means to dismantle and reverse all painstakingly agreed steps to get to the bottom of the scandal and cover up for all guilty parties.”

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said in a statement the suits related to “double and fictitious billings for works never carried out and excessive charges to PKA.”

Pua claimed that PKA has agreed to proceed to arbitration instead despite the “obvious criminality of the alleged offences” by KDSB, whose then chief executive was Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, the current Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers’ chief.

“Kong and new PKA chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poh have conspired to reverse the decision as well as many other decisions which were taken previously by PKA,” he said. Continue reading “DAP says MCA minister dismantling steps to uncover PKFZ scandal”

Posted on

The shameless lot

– Spencer Gan
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 26, 2012

FEB 26 – When exactly did Malaysia reach this point: where those sullied by wrongdoing (NFC) and the mother of all wrongdoing (PKFZ) speak without shame, even with arrogance.

There is no remorse or humility. Aren’t those who are wrong or who have misused public funds supposed to show some sorrow or at least keep silent?

Not so the people at the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) or the political party whose politicians fleeced Malaysians of billions of ringgit, the MCA. Continue reading “The shameless lot”

Posted on

MCA: A gallery of rogues

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 14, 2011

DEC 14 — I read with amusement the account of Dr Ling Liong Sik’s trial yesterday. His lawyer argued that the former MCA president did not mislead the Cabinet over the inflated cost of acquiring land for the PKFZ because at all relevant times he was briefed by his ministry officials and did not conceal any documents from the Cabinet.

Dr Ling’s lawyer also said that at relevant time in question of the charge against his client, Ong Ka Ting was the minister of transport.

You know what? I think many Malaysians expect Dr Ling to walk because the prosecution’s case against him has been a joke. They have not been able to make even major points of the charges of misleading and cheating stick.

We also have grown tired of so-called “big fish” being hauled to court for corruption and then only to see it end in acquittal. Witness the trials of Eric Chia, Kasitah Gaddam and others.

But let us not get distracted here because, till today, no one is talking about how the billions of taxpayers’ money can be recovered. Continue reading “MCA: A gallery of rogues”

Posted on

Minister changes testimony, says Liong Sik’s letter not government guarantee

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 15, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop changed his testimony today, reversing his assertion made a day earlier that Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s support letter in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project amounted to a government guarantee.

The former second finance minister testified yesterday that only the Finance Ministry could issue a letter of support with the Cabinet’s approval, and that every time such a letter was issued, the government would have to bear the responsibility if anything went wrong.

Nor Yakcop also said that Dr Ling’s letter of support was actually a “guarantee letter” as it helped secure a top-tier rating for bonds raised for the construction of the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and was sold for a profit of RM40 million.

But the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department also stressed that the support letter from the transport minister had not received the approval of the Finance Ministry or the Cabinet. Continue reading “Minister changes testimony, says Liong Sik’s letter not government guarantee”

Posted on

The Amanah agenda (Part 2)

By Sakmongkol AK47 | July 25, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

JULY 25 — This is a gathering of concerned citizens. On the stage forming the committee members of Amanah were Kadir Sh Fadzir himself, Daniel Tajem, S. Subramaniam( a former MIC deputy president), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as chairman, Ong Tee Keat, Bujang Ulis from Sarawak and a sitting MP from Sabah.

The audience was made up of mainly concerned citizens of all races, with Malays making the predominant number. I am sure not everyone in there in the hall that day will commit themselves to the rigors of field politics; but I was sure of one thing. Everyone were united in the revulsion and rejection of what is going on in the country — the politics, economy, the divisiveness in our society, the future of democracy, the future of this country.
Continue reading “The Amanah agenda (Part 2)”

Posted on

Top 7 Reasons NOT To Vote BN Come GE13

by Damien Murphy Denis
May 24, 2011

Reading the latest happenings about our country is a pain for many of us. Seeing the kind of filth BN politicians churning day in and day out makes you think that Malaysia is in a state of anarchy.

Would anyone disagree? Politically, economically and socially our nation is sinking lower and it seems we are reaching the point of no return.

We were considered to be a model country at one time but today we are on the way to become the “Next Sick Man of Asia” or the next Somalia.

Can we re-claim our country from these corrupt and good for nothing BN politicians? I say we have too. And we need too. Continue reading “Top 7 Reasons NOT To Vote BN Come GE13”

Posted on

PKA chairman: I voted with my conscience

Written by Sharon Tan
Monday, 28 March 2011
The Edge Financial Daily

On March 22, at Lee’s last board meeting as PKA chairman, he was outvoted 5-2 when the board decided not to sue the members of the previous board for failing to execute their fiduciary duties in relation to the PKFZ fiasco.

Lee, whose political career includes three terms as the Subang Jaya assemblyman, says he knew the Transport Minister had not recommended his reappointment as PKA chairman. However, he remains hopeful as he believes his work is not yet complete.

As his tenure draws to an end on March 31, Lee feels that he has tried to correct the PKFZ debacle, which may cost taxpayers RM12.5 billion if it defaults on its borrowings. Under his watch, a forensic audit of the project was initiated, good practices put in place, including a whistleblower policy, and three independent directors appointed to the board of PKA, which had been filled by politicians and civil servants.

Here are excerpts of the interview: Continue reading “PKA chairman: I voted with my conscience”