Liow under fire over Net clip

Tuesday December 1, 2009
Liow under fire over Net clip
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/1/nation/5211095&sec=nation
By NG CHENG YEE


PETALING JAYA: The MCA crisis is not only making headlines in Malaysia, it has also become a hot news item in Taiwan.

Party vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and those aligned to him have been accused of being copycats in producing an Internet video clip similar to a campaign video of Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou.

The three-minute video clip, titled MCA MIRT 1128, is available on YouTube.

The content urged MCA central delegates to attend the Nov 28 extraordinary general meeting, which was later cancelled and replaced with a special briefing session.

Taiwanese news portal http://news.msn.com.tw also carried a story criticising the clip, saying Liow and his group had learned the worst from their Taiwanese counterpart, the Kuomintang (KMT).

Taiwanese television station TVBS also pointed out that Liow’s video had copied almost all the content from Ma’s video, and only replaced the word “Taiwan” with “MCA” and “kind” with “integrity”.

As at press time yesterday, the video has been viewed 14,898 times with 277 comments; with some users calling the MCA the Malaysia Copy Association.

Meanwhile, MCA central committee member Datuk Ti Lian Ker challenged Liow to prove that 1,193 central delegates attended the Nov 28 briefing.

Ti said he would wait for Liow at the MCA headquarters at 11am on Friday to see the evidence.

In a press statement, he said Liow had failed to allow professional verification and an audit on the attendance as pledged earlier.

“Liow’s number of 1,193 central delegates does not tally with the figure confirmed by the Special Affairs Department under the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry that placed 547 central delegates attending the EGM,” he said.

He also asked Liow to be transparent and give an accounting of the amount he had received and spent.

Ti said Liow, the leader of the MCA Integrity Restoration Task Force (MIRT), must be reminded that he was slowly destroying himself and the party by walking away from his talk.