Koh Fights Back

NST Online » Columns
2008/08/22
'Docile' Koh steals the show
David Yeow



IT seems former Penang chief minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon has had enough of the public snipping by his successor Lim Guan Eng.
The usually composed and scholarly-looking, some even say docile, Koh was a changed man when he took to the rostrum in the televised public debate with Lim over land issues in the state.

While both men were equally fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and firmly sold in their beliefs that they were in the right, it was Koh who stole the show.

From the first bell by moderator Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka chairman and New Straits Times columnist Datuk Johan Jaafar, Koh took on a combative attitude and clearly thumped Lim, point after point and even left room to chide Lim's supporters who turned a tad unruly towards the end of the night.

"We are having a gentlemanly debate here, let's behave professionally and be civilised about it," Koh said coolly, immediately silencing a jeering portion of the crowd who were unhappy when he accused Lim of always blaming others while not doing enough himself.
Even online journalist Wan Hamidi Hamid, who was on Lim's side, was taken to task when he suggested in his long question to Koh that the former chief minister was afraid of or covering up for Umno.

"That's not a question, that's an accusation," Koh said steely and the journalist was visibly taken aback.

The debate, titled Kisah Benar Di Sebalik Kontroversi Tanah di Pulau Pinang (The truth behind the land controversy in Penang) and organised by online news portal AgendaDaily, did not reveal anything that has not been reported by newspapers over the past few months.

For much of the 45-minute debate, Lim accused Koh of cover-up, while the latter countered that the former was flogging a dead horse and repeating half truths.

The alleged cover-up involved DAP's discovery that the previous Barisan Nasional state government had alienated a plot of land (initially thought to have belonged to the state government, but later found to be private land) to a quarry operator. The operator has filed a claim for RM40 million which the previous state government is challenging in court.

Lim repeatedly questioned Koh and his government over the lack of stern action against the culprit responsible for the "loss", except to give a warning letter to the Land Office staff.

Lim even insinuated that the reason Koh made little mention of the case until he brought up the issue was because certain Umno politicians were involved in the wheeling and dealing.

Koh countered Lim's accusation by saying that his administration had investigated the "mistake" in awarding the 4.3ha land to the quarry operator before handing over the probe to the Anti-Corruption Agency.

"What cover-up? When the ACA said there was no evidence of fraud, I was not happy.

"We formed a committee and re-investigated the case internally. We forwarded the case again to the ACA for another probe."

Koh said as the ACA again found that there was no fraud, no other action could be taken against the officer for the "mistake".

He chided Lim for not re-opening the case and conducting his own investigation and bringing the issue to the ACA if he was adamant that there was a "scandal".

Koh also took to task Lim's assertion that the state government had already lost the RM40 million even though the case was still being fought in the courts.

"We believe that the damages are not worth RM40 million. We believe we have a case. That's why I did not 'reveal' the issue because the legal process is not over yet.

"But did the opposition reveal this point? No, they just gave up and played up the claim that we have lost RM40 million. This is his half truth."

Koh's "killing blow" came towards the end of the night, when he turned the tables on Lim.

Arguing that if Lim only had the RM40 million case and a few other yet-to-be proven "land scams" against the previous state government, then they were only giving credence to their impeccable track record.

"The Penang government approves an average of 500 land transactions a year.

"Meaning that in our (BN) 18 years there, we approved more than 10,000 land deals.

"If the RM40 million case and a few others are all they can throw at us, this means that we have a success rate of 99.9 per cent," Koh exclaimed, while Lim quickly stared at his notes to avoid eye contact.

As if acknowledging he had walked into a trap, Lim admitted at a press conference later that the public debate would not have been necessary if Koh had accepted his invitation to meet him to discuss the land "scandals".

In an immediate response, Koh said Lim had indeed, through media reports, offered to talk about the issue amicably.

"But in less than 24 hours, he started blasting me in the papers, claiming the previous government and I had committed fraud.

"So I decided that a debate was the best place to reveal the whole truth as everyone could hear for themselves the facts."

Gerakan's "Mr Nice Guy" is a formidable foe when crossed.