DAP rep snubs calls for public funds transparency
By Boo Su-Lyn
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — DAP assemblyman Jenice Lee has maintained that she does not need to be accountable to the public over their donations for a party campaign, even as allegations of corruption surfaced against her.
The Teratai assemblyman has been accused of abusing public funds for a campaign since 2007 to build a Chinese primary school in Pandan Perdana — which still has not materialised — while Selangor DAP chief Ean Yong Hian Wah claimed no knowledge of her donation drive.
“It goes to our party account, so we are accountable to our party members,” Lee told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.
“If I reveal [our figures], MCA has to reveal all their accounts,” added Lee.
Pandan MP Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said that his service centre had received complaints from local residents who claimed they had donated to the DAP by buying hand-held fans bearing Lee’s portrait in support of a school-building project.
“To date, no account of the donations was published, and the generous donors were kept in the dark of where their money had gone to,” said Ong in his blog entry posted on August 31.
“What is obvious is that there is no sign of any Chinese school in the area concerned,” he added.
Lee, however, refuted the accusations and insisted that the donations she had collected since 2007 were for a party campaign for the school but not specifically for its construction.
“It is very clear that it is a donation... to a DAP campaign for the school,” said Lee, stressing that it was only “common sense” that the donations were for a campaign as the school had not yet been built.
“I never mentioned that I opened a foundation or trust fund (for the school),” added Lee.
Some Pandan area residents’ association representatives, however, remained unconvinced and reportedly highlighted Lee’s alleged misdeeds to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last Wednesday.
One of the representatives reportedly claimed that some 10,000 fans bearing Lee’s image were sold to donors in her constituency based on her promise of building the school on a plot of land known as a “green-lung” of Pandan Perdana.
Yong pointed out that Lee should be accountable over the public funds that she has received.
“If the fund is for public use, she should be transparent,” said the Selangor DAP chief, but admitted that he was in the dark over her donation drive.
“I don’t know about the fund-raising, and I don’t know how much she has collected. I (just) know she is fighting for a new school,” he added.
Lee claimed that the donations she collected were used to print newsletters, banners and leaflets in her campaign for the Chinese primary school project.
“Then they can see where the money is being used, that it is not for my own personal entertainment,” said Lee.
The DAP assemblyman, however, admitted that the education ministry still had not approved her application filed in 2008 for the school project.
“There has been no response at all,” said Lee.
She also denied Ong’s accusations that no application of land conversion was made, pointing out that she was already in the process of converting the “green lung” into a school reserve.
“In 2009, I submitted an application to convert the land from a government reserve to a school reserve,” said Lee, adding that Ong’s attacks against her were made to “cover up” his failure in building a Chinese school.
“I reserve the right to lodge a lawsuit against Ong for defaming me,” she said.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — DAP assemblyman Jenice Lee has maintained that she does not need to be accountable to the public over their donations for a party campaign, even as allegations of corruption surfaced against her.
The Teratai assemblyman has been accused of abusing public funds for a campaign since 2007 to build a Chinese primary school in Pandan Perdana — which still has not materialised — while Selangor DAP chief Ean Yong Hian Wah claimed no knowledge of her donation drive.
“It goes to our party account, so we are accountable to our party members,” Lee told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.
“If I reveal [our figures], MCA has to reveal all their accounts,” added Lee.
Pandan MP Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said that his service centre had received complaints from local residents who claimed they had donated to the DAP by buying hand-held fans bearing Lee’s portrait in support of a school-building project.
“To date, no account of the donations was published, and the generous donors were kept in the dark of where their money had gone to,” said Ong in his blog entry posted on August 31.
“What is obvious is that there is no sign of any Chinese school in the area concerned,” he added.
Lee, however, refuted the accusations and insisted that the donations she had collected since 2007 were for a party campaign for the school but not specifically for its construction.
“It is very clear that it is a donation... to a DAP campaign for the school,” said Lee, stressing that it was only “common sense” that the donations were for a campaign as the school had not yet been built.
“I never mentioned that I opened a foundation or trust fund (for the school),” added Lee.
Some Pandan area residents’ association representatives, however, remained unconvinced and reportedly highlighted Lee’s alleged misdeeds to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last Wednesday.
One of the representatives reportedly claimed that some 10,000 fans bearing Lee’s image were sold to donors in her constituency based on her promise of building the school on a plot of land known as a “green-lung” of Pandan Perdana.
Yong pointed out that Lee should be accountable over the public funds that she has received.
“If the fund is for public use, she should be transparent,” said the Selangor DAP chief, but admitted that he was in the dark over her donation drive.
“I don’t know about the fund-raising, and I don’t know how much she has collected. I (just) know she is fighting for a new school,” he added.
Lee claimed that the donations she collected were used to print newsletters, banners and leaflets in her campaign for the Chinese primary school project.
“Then they can see where the money is being used, that it is not for my own personal entertainment,” said Lee.
The DAP assemblyman, however, admitted that the education ministry still had not approved her application filed in 2008 for the school project.
“There has been no response at all,” said Lee.
She also denied Ong’s accusations that no application of land conversion was made, pointing out that she was already in the process of converting the “green lung” into a school reserve.
“In 2009, I submitted an application to convert the land from a government reserve to a school reserve,” said Lee, adding that Ong’s attacks against her were made to “cover up” his failure in building a Chinese school.
“I reserve the right to lodge a lawsuit against Ong for defaming me,” she said.
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