KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee has criticised the manner Barisan Nasional (BN) has handled the Mazu statue issue in Kudat. He said that religious harmony and unity in Sabah had been shaken by the flip-flop stance of the state government to revoke a permit granted earlier to erect the statue.
Yong noted that efforts had been made to hijack the project soon after former chief minister Chong Kah Kiat had initiated it.
The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) chief was speaking at a news conference at its headquarters in Bornion Centre here yesterday.
The statue was at the centre of a court battle that ended when the Federal Court last month effectively turned down a request by its promoters to appeal against the state government's decision to stop the construction.
The court ruled that Chong, who had brought the suit against the state government, had no legal standing to do so.
However, Yong is convinced that a solution can be found.
He pointed out that the Federal Court had only refused to grant leave to Chong and his Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation (KTHCF) to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision that he (Chong) lacks legal standing to take legal action because the foundation was not registered.
“No reason was given by the Federal Court. No other issue has been decided. There is no court ruling on the legality or otherwise of the approval granted by the Kudat Town Board to the foundation (to erect the statue).
“Furthermore, the issue of abuse of power by the state authority in arbitrarily withdrawing the approval was not fully heard in court... ”
The former chief minister also questioned the position of the state government headed by Musa Aman when offering to relocate the Mazu statue project.
“What relocation is the chief minister talking about?” he asked.
Alternative site
Yong said the four-acre plot of land at Bak Bak in Kudat, which was offered as the alternative site, has already been approved to a different Chinese association – the Federation of Hainan Association of Sabah and Labuan.
A news report in May last year quoted Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai as saying that he was “very grateful to the chief minister for expediting” the approval of the piece of land to the Hainan association.
On the same day, Yee’s political secretary, John Lim Yu Chin, in his capacity as the president of the association, similarly expressed gratitude to Musa for the plot of land.
Yong believes that the move was to shut off any chances of an amicable settlement of the Mazu issue.
On Sept 13, 2009, director of Land and Survey, Osman Jamal, handed over the letter of approval for the land in Bak Bak to Lim.
Yong said Musa's announcement that the Mazu relocation offer still stands now casts doubts on the land approval given to the Hainan association.
If the alternative site offered by Musa has been taken up by the association, it follows that the earlier offer to the Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation to relocate to Bak Bak no longer exists, Yong said.
Yong sees ulterior motives emerging over the allocation of land for another Mazu project.
"Why was the land for the new Mazu project approved only in 2009 and only to an association headed by Lim? Isn’t this a case of three wrongs: wrong time, wrong place and wrong person?”
Auspicious site
Yong said such suspicions are only natural, especially when the Hainan association secretary-general Wong Ka Hung revealed in May last year that it had applied for a piece of land in Kota Kinabalu in 1997 for the construction of its temple and had been petitioning the government ever since.
"Instead, a piece of land in Kudat was selected for this purpose. Of all the districts in Sabah, why was Kudat chosen?" asked Yong.
"Why was Yee’s announcement of the land approval made one week after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had called for an out-of-court settlement?
“Was it the Hainan association which asked the government for the land or was it Yee who asked the association to accept the offer of land at Bak Bak, specifically for a Mazu project?” he asked.
Noting that it was clear that Yee was spearheading this project, Yong said many perceived this as an attempt to please Musa and lobby for the coveted post of deputy chief minister, which is due to be vacated by a “party-less” Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, who had quit SAPP after it pulled out from BN.
He also said the “government cannot force Chong to build the Mazu statue at another location”.
"The choice of an auspicious site is solely the right and prerogative of the statue owners...”
“SAPP and other relevant parties will revisit the whole issue objectively and fairly and take into considerations all the relevant factors in the best interests of the people,” he said.
FMT
05/08/10
Yong noted that efforts had been made to hijack the project soon after former chief minister Chong Kah Kiat had initiated it.
The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) chief was speaking at a news conference at its headquarters in Bornion Centre here yesterday.
The statue was at the centre of a court battle that ended when the Federal Court last month effectively turned down a request by its promoters to appeal against the state government's decision to stop the construction.
The court ruled that Chong, who had brought the suit against the state government, had no legal standing to do so.
However, Yong is convinced that a solution can be found.
He pointed out that the Federal Court had only refused to grant leave to Chong and his Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation (KTHCF) to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision that he (Chong) lacks legal standing to take legal action because the foundation was not registered.
“No reason was given by the Federal Court. No other issue has been decided. There is no court ruling on the legality or otherwise of the approval granted by the Kudat Town Board to the foundation (to erect the statue).
“Furthermore, the issue of abuse of power by the state authority in arbitrarily withdrawing the approval was not fully heard in court... ”
The former chief minister also questioned the position of the state government headed by Musa Aman when offering to relocate the Mazu statue project.
“What relocation is the chief minister talking about?” he asked.
Alternative site
Yong said the four-acre plot of land at Bak Bak in Kudat, which was offered as the alternative site, has already been approved to a different Chinese association – the Federation of Hainan Association of Sabah and Labuan.
A news report in May last year quoted Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai as saying that he was “very grateful to the chief minister for expediting” the approval of the piece of land to the Hainan association.
On the same day, Yee’s political secretary, John Lim Yu Chin, in his capacity as the president of the association, similarly expressed gratitude to Musa for the plot of land.
Yong believes that the move was to shut off any chances of an amicable settlement of the Mazu issue.
On Sept 13, 2009, director of Land and Survey, Osman Jamal, handed over the letter of approval for the land in Bak Bak to Lim.
Yong said Musa's announcement that the Mazu relocation offer still stands now casts doubts on the land approval given to the Hainan association.
If the alternative site offered by Musa has been taken up by the association, it follows that the earlier offer to the Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation to relocate to Bak Bak no longer exists, Yong said.
Yong sees ulterior motives emerging over the allocation of land for another Mazu project.
"Why was the land for the new Mazu project approved only in 2009 and only to an association headed by Lim? Isn’t this a case of three wrongs: wrong time, wrong place and wrong person?”
Auspicious site
Yong said such suspicions are only natural, especially when the Hainan association secretary-general Wong Ka Hung revealed in May last year that it had applied for a piece of land in Kota Kinabalu in 1997 for the construction of its temple and had been petitioning the government ever since.
"Instead, a piece of land in Kudat was selected for this purpose. Of all the districts in Sabah, why was Kudat chosen?" asked Yong.
"Why was Yee’s announcement of the land approval made one week after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had called for an out-of-court settlement?
“Was it the Hainan association which asked the government for the land or was it Yee who asked the association to accept the offer of land at Bak Bak, specifically for a Mazu project?” he asked.
Noting that it was clear that Yee was spearheading this project, Yong said many perceived this as an attempt to please Musa and lobby for the coveted post of deputy chief minister, which is due to be vacated by a “party-less” Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, who had quit SAPP after it pulled out from BN.
He also said the “government cannot force Chong to build the Mazu statue at another location”.
"The choice of an auspicious site is solely the right and prerogative of the statue owners...”
“SAPP and other relevant parties will revisit the whole issue objectively and fairly and take into considerations all the relevant factors in the best interests of the people,” he said.
FMT
05/08/10
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