UMNO Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan is unqualified to talk about me debating MCA Deputy President Wee Ka Song, instead of MCA President Liow Tong Lai when Abdul Rahman Dahlan literally ‘chickened’ out of his own challenge to debate me. Abdul Rahman had to rely on so-called “legal advice” from the authorities to bail him out of the televised debate arranged by Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.
It is typical for Abdul Rahman to try to draw in my father to try to hide the cowardice of MCA President Liow Tiong Lai, who did not have the same guts of his predecessor Chua Soi Lek to have a public debate with me on both the 1MDB scandal and the tunnel issue. We will not allow Abdul Rahman Dahlan to demean the position of the MCA President and the DAP Secretary-General just because Liow Tiong Lai does not have the guts to debate with me.
Abdul Rahman Dahlan should understand that both top leaders debate each other, not downgrade themselves or their own positions by debating with the opposing No.2 leader. In the United States presidential debates, the Presidential nominees debate each other, not against the opposing Vice-Presidential nominee. Perhaps Abdul Rahman Dahlan is confused because he is struggling to find a new parliamentary seat to contest, since his Kota Belud parliamentary seat will be allotted to either Salleh Said Keruak or Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
If Abdul Rahman is so confident about his calculations that the Penang undersea tunnel is facing RM20.5 billion in losses, then he should persuade Liow to debate with me by using these “bullets” provided by Abdul Rahman. Clearly Liow knows that this RM20.5 billion losses is “firing blanks” because it is just another one of BN’s lies.
Can Abdul Rahman Dahlan Explain The 1MDB’s TRX Land Scandal?
Liow is also not willing to take the risk to debate with me because Liow is terrified of the comparison made with the 1MDB scandal. As a start Abdul Rahman should give Liow tips to explain how the Penang state government can sell its land at Gurney Drive at 3 times ABOVE the market value, unlike the BN Federal government that sold its land to 1MDB at Tun Razak Exchange at 42 times BELOW the market value. Or can Abdul Rahman Dahlan himself explain the TRX land scandal?
1MDB bought 70 acres of prime Kuala Lumpur land in TRX without an open tender, at a dirt-cheap price of only RM64 per square feet, when the market price was RM2,700 per square feet(psf) in 2010. This works out to a purchase price of only RM 194 million when the market value is more than RM8.2 billion, a benefit to 1MDB of 42 times(4,200%) over the market value. 1MDB had an unrealised gain of RM 8 billion and yet no action was taken by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission(MACC).
How low this price of RM64 per square feet is, can be seen by 1MDB selling only 1.56 acres of land to Lembaga Tabung Haji at a supposedly cheap price of RM2,773 per square feet for RM188.5 million. In other words, 1MDB practically got back their entire investment of RM 194 million for buying 70 acres of TRX land by re-selling only 1.56 acres!
1MDB was willing to make a huge profit at the expense of another Federal government agency, in this case Lembaga Tabung Haji, to cover its acquisition costs of RM194 million at one go. This is unlike the Penang state government swapping land at Gurney Drive, to build the tunnel and three highway project for RM1,300 psf, which is 3 times ABOVE the then market price of RM457 psf according to the government valuer.
The Penang state government had nothing to hide because the tunnel and 3 highway projects was conducted by open tender unlike 1MDB. Both BN or MCA did not dare to name which Penang state government leader had accepted millions of ringgit of bribes relating to the tunnel and 3 main highway project.
In contrast, Pakatan has publicly named Jho Low and Malaysian Official No. 1(MO1) as the beneficiaries of 1MDB. This is proven by the RM1 billion super-yacht ‘Equanimity’ seized in Bali bought from 1MDB funds which was reaffirmed by the United State Department of Justice as well as RM 2.6 billion deposited in the personal bank account of MO1.
LIM GUAN ENG