Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Ngeh gets a tongue lashing

PANTAI REMIS: The DAP candidate for the Beruas parliamentary seat, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, and his campaign team were left red-faced when they received a tongue lashing from a group of people during their campaign trail here last night.

The group was having a drink in a coffee shop when Ngeh, Pantai Remis state seat candidate Wong May Ing and others, came into the shop.

Eyewitnesses said about 10 people started berating Ngeh and his team.
Had DAP cheated them?
They claimed that he seldom served his constituents since he won the seat in the last general election.

Attempts by Ngeh's assistants to calm the angry voters failed, forcing Ngeh and his entourage to leave the shop in a huff.

A 62-year-old man, who wanted to be known only as Tan, said he called out Ngeh for showing up only when the election was around the corner.
"I told him I only saw him five times in his five years as an elected representative," he said.
"I also told him not to lie as I spend my free time in this coffee shop. Hence, anything that happens in this town, I will definitely know," he added.

Fisherman Lim Pek Liang, 60, shared Tan's sentiments, saying Ngeh's absence made him unhappy.
Lim said he had waited for five years to let Ngeh know how he felt.
He said his anger towards Ngeh stemmed from his failure to provide services to the electorate as expected from an elected representative.

Citing himself as an example, Lim said he sought Ngeh's assistance in July 2008 to write a letter to the Fisheries Department after his boat sank.
"I still remember the day I went to his office at 11am to get that letter. He made me wait until 6pm before I got the letter."

What left Lim fuming was that the letter was written in Mandarin by one of his staff.
"His officers asked me to return the next day if I wanted the letter in Bahasa Malaysia," he said, showing the New Straits Times the letter.

Lim said he later sought the assistance of state Gerakan chairman Datuk Chang Ko Youn to write the letter.
Admitting that he was an opposition supporter, Lim said he would not vote for Ngeh, who is also contesting in the Sitiawan state seat, in the 13th General Election.
In a text-message reply, Ngeh denied meeting the angry crowd.