Liow: Someone out there trying to get me

Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai claimed today that someone was using the police attack on Tung Shin Hospital to pressure him into stepping down.

In a statement, he also dismissed a rumour about him giving RM2 million to the hospital to cover up the incident, saying it was "nonsense", aimed a humiliating him.

Liow said the rumour, spread on the Internet, was widely reported in today's Chinese newspapers.

"This is essentially nonsense, which is clearly intended to humiliate me and Tung Shin Hospital."

The MCA deputy president stressed that his July 11 call at Tung Shin was solely to fulfill his responsibilities as health minister, and to look into the safety aspects of the hospital and its patients.

He also claimed someone was trying to mislead the people by using a news report from last year to back allegations that his July 11 visit was in fact to hand over an allocation of RM2 million to cover up the issue.

"The truth is I had gone to Tung Shin Hospital on Jan 12, 2010 to allocate RM2 million to them and also to Chinese Maternity Hospital," Liow said.

People are so bad

"It is very clear that someone is trying to confuse the people by playing up the issue of RM2 million.

"This shows how bad the intention is of the people spreading the rumour. This is beyond normal people and also reveals their intention to force me to resign."

Liow said what concerned him more was that the Tung Shin Hospital, highly regarded by the Chinese community, has also been humiliated by these people as a result of their attack on him.

He said he had made it clear before that the ministry would not allow the police to shoot tear gas and water cannons into the hospital and also that protesters should not seek refuge there.

"My statement was spun by some parties and now there a lot of rumours over the Internet claiming I am protecting the police."

Liow said that he had expressed his wish for that the police to probe further into the incident for evidence, but the media only highlighted the part of his statement quoting the hospital's report that the police had not shot tear gas and water cannons into the hospital.

"I have ordered the setting up of an internal committee headed by the secretary-general to look into the matter in a thorough and transparent manner."

Last Saturday's incident provoked outrage among the Bersih 2.0 participants and netizens, especially after the police denied doing so.

Malaysiakini