Apologise, Chua tells Lim

PETALING JAYA: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng must apologise for allegedly making disparaging remarks about Johor, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said.

He said there was absolutely no need for Lim to run down Johor and demanded he apologise to the people in the state.

The fact is that Johor, especially Iskandar Malaysia, has performed well, he said yesterday.

Dr Chua was referring to remarks that Lim allegedly made in Singapore last month when asked about the progress of Iskandar Malaysia.

An alleged transcript of Lims speech, released on Internet portals, quoted him as saying: You dont have to worry about your safety when you come to Penang. In Johor, if you are a Singaporean, you are likely to get kidnapped.

Dr Chua said investors looked at a country as a whole before investing.

They look at whether the country is politically stable with a sound financial structure. The bottomline is there was no need for him to run down Johor, he said, pointing out that Lim and his father, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, were both born in the state.

Several other leaders also chided the Penang chief minister for his alleged remarks.

MIC secretary-general S. Murugesan said it was unbecoming of a state leader to run down other states for his own popularity.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin accused Lim of only abiding by the open tender policy when it suited him.

He also tries to look good to investors by rubbishing other states like Johor.

It is as if he has forgotten that there are other states in Malaysia, Khairy said.

-The Star-