Chow Kon Yeow: 曹观友

Apology sought over utterance (Star, 31.1.2008)

PENANG: A controversy is brewing over the use of the words “samy” and “sami” at a political cera-mah here last Saturday.

Sri Muniswaran Temple secretary S. Ragindra wants DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to apologise to the Indian community for uttering the words sami tipu.

Ragindran said “sami” in Tamil meant deity or a holy man and Lim’s use of the phrase sami tipu at a DAP ceramah in the Penang Chinese Town Hall was offensive to the Hindus.

“This is a very sensitive issue. Even if Lim had meant Samy, the name is a very common one as many Indians are named Samy and it is an insult to call them liars before a crowd of 2,000 people,” he said yesterday.

Ragindran said several of his friends who attended the ceramah on the Hindraf issue had complained to him about the matter.

On Tuesday, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lee Hack Teik called on Lim to apologise to the Indian community for making the offensive re-mark.

When contacted, Lim claimed that everyone in the hall knew who he was referring to.

“Everyone knew whom I was referring to, so why are they trying to put it out of context?” he questioned.

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow told a press conference yesterday that Lim was referring to Works Minister Samy Vellu and not the sami (priests) in temples.

“If the 2,000 Indians who attended the forum had found his words offensive, they would not have responded with loud cheers of support but would have instead booed Guan Eng,'’ Chow said.

He instead called Lee “li tua pao” (Hokkien for big cannon) for what he termed as a cheap publicity stunt to champion the In-dians.

DAP: Look at your own backyard (Star, 1.2.2008)

PENANG: Gerakan adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik has been told to stop accusing DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng of trying to establish the “Lim Dynasty” in Penang and start looking at his “own backyard.”

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said Keng Yaik had said that in the Chinese newspapers on Wednesday that he would not allow the father-and-son team to run the Penang state “as though it’s Lim Kit Siang & Son.”

“Why is Keng Yaik so worried about Kit Siang or Guan Eng contesting in Penang? He should be more worried about the internal problems in his party such as the allegations of him practising nepotism,” Chow said.

He added that the state DAP received a faxed letter yesterday addressed to Gerakan secretary general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye, purportedly signed by KL Gerakan assistant secretary K.K. Supramaniam, accusing Keng Yaik of practising nepotism because his son Si Pin, who is the party’s national Deputy Youth chairman, had never contested for the post.

Chow quoted one part of the letter, which read: “It (the deputy youth chairman’s post) was negotiated and given to him on a silver platter.

“There were many capable and senior members who could have contested and won the post but the members did not resist and there was heavy grumbling behind closed doors.”

The letter also stated that Si Pin had only attended four out of the 15 state liaison committee meetings.

Chow said judging from the letter, Keng Yaik seemed to be making an attempt to create his own “Lim Dynasty” in the party.