Teresa Kok

Press statement by YB Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh at Kuala Lumpur on 12th April 2006

Is Michael Chong’s Motive to Defend the Corruption and Abuses in Police Lock-up and Add Salt to Wounds of Madam Ching Pik Wai?

I regret very much with Michael Chong’s coming out to discredit Madam Ching Pik Wai’s testimony on her humiliating experience in the Dang Wangi Police Lock-up on March 11, 2006 again and again. The similarity in both press conferences is that Michael Chong has twisted and turned the facts and misled journalists and members of public, thus blurring the crux of the issue that was brought up by Madam Ching.

On his press conference dated April 7, he said Madam Ching has never mentioned of pulling ears in the police lock-up to him when she first came to see him but she said it in the press conference with me, so he was doubtful of her statement, as such he claimed that they are inconsistent. The point is, Madam Ching has never mentioned to him that she has been asked by the police to do “ear pulling”. She has clearly stated in her police report that Sergeant Samsiah had asked Madam Ching to give her ATM card as well as the PIN number, if not Madam Ting will be asked to do ear-squat. The photograph shown by Michael Chong in his press conference was the photo published in Guang Ming Daily on April 2nd. That was the posture requested by the photographers during the press conference with me on April 1. This shows that Michael Chong has intentionally or unintentionally misled the press and the public.

After Madam Ching and I have rebutted him in our press conference on April 9 where Madam Ching demanded him to apologise to her for making false accusations against her, Michael Chong again called press conference on April 10 where he showed CCTV recordings to prove that he has attended to Madam Ching and her husband for 8 minutes. The CCTV recording actually doesn’t mean anything because Madam Ching and her husband had admitted from the beginning that both of them have met with Michael Chong and his assistant Novena Ting on March 16, but Madam Ching did not communicate with Michael Chong as she cannot converse in English, but she just told the problem she faced at SOGO supermarket to Novena Ting in Chinese, and her husband Walter Lim was the one that spoke to Michael Chong and requested MCA’s legal assistance to her case in SOGO.

Michael Chong then cited the interview of Mustafa, the CPO of Kuala Lumpur that was published in Nanyang Siang Pao on April 4 that Madam Ching has written a letter to the police to ask for forgiveness from the police. The actual interview in Nanyang Siang Pao dated April 4 is, Mustafa said Madam Ching has written a letter to plead guilty to SOGO after she was arrested, then only the police recommended to DPP to drop charges against her. The issue now is Madam Ching denied she has written letter to SOGO, as she doesn’t understand English and Malay language, it is impossible for her to write a letter to SOGO to plead guilty. She said she was asked by Sergeant Tohmeng to sign on a form on March 28th to settle the misunderstanding with SOGO, but she was not given a copy of the form that she signed. Again we see that Michael Chong made his accusation without checking facts with Madam Ching but just based on a media article, which did not quote her reaction at all.

Michael Chong Used Tactics to Diverting Attention

I am very disappointed with Michael Chong for his series of baseless and untrue criticism against Madam Ching who has gone through so much agony with the police. In the first press conference, Michael Chong twisted and turned the fact based on the “ear pulling” photo posed by Madam Ching. How can Michael Chong doubt her story in open just because she did not reveal the maltreatment and humiliation that she experienced in the police lock-up to him when she and her husband first met him on March 11? Is he jealous that Madam Ching kept the most shocking part of her painful experience to me and not to him that he has missed the opportunity for media publicity, or has he been used by certain quarters to divert the attention and sympathy of the public to Madam Ching’s account in the police lock-up? (more…)

Rebuttal to Unjustified Accusations Made by Michael Chong in His Series of Press Conferences Against Madam Ching Pik Wai (Based On Malay Mail News Reports)

Michael Chong’s Accusation Against Madam Ching Pik Wai on April 8, 2006

i) Michael Chong said Madam Ching told him was forced to pirouette in the nude for two policewomen and had her money stolen while in remand for shoplifting.

ii) Michael Chong said Madam Ching never mentioned about the story of ear-pulling at police lock-up to him when she first met him, so he was sceptical of the woman’s claim.

Madam Ching’s Response during the press conference on April 9, 2006 (Sunday),

a) She has never spoken to Michael Chong personally as she cannot converse in English and Malay. It was her husband Walter Lim who spoke to Michael Chong briefly. She just explained what happened at SOGO to Michael Chong’s assistant Novena Ting in Mandarin.

b) Walter Lim said he has spoken to Michael Chong briefly by asking him whether the MCA lawyer can help them to resolve their misunderstanding with SOGO supermarket.

c) Walter Lim and Mdm Ching never mentioned to Michael Chong about the maltreatment faced by Mdm Ching at police lock-up because the main worry at that time was the problem in SOGO, and not the humiliation at the police lock-up.

d) Madam Ching never said she was asked by the police to do “ear-pulling”. She just said in her police report that she was threatened by Sergeant Samsiah at the police lock-up that she will be asked to do “ear-squats” if she refused to give her ATM card and PIN number. She was asked to pose by the photographers to pull her ears during the press conference dated 1st April 06 and this photo published in Guang Ming Daily. Michael Chong used this photo to accused Mdm Ching wrongly.

Michael Chong’s Accusation Against Madam Ching Pik Wai In His 2nd Press Conference on April 11, 2006

i) Michael Chong showed the CCTV recordings to the media to prove Madam Ching and her husband have met with him and spoken to him.

ii) Michael Chong has listened to Madam Ching’s claim ¨C that she was asked to pirouette in the nude for two policewomen and had her money stolen.

iii) Michael Chong has spent 8 minutes with them.

iv) Michael Chong quoted an interview in Nanyang Siang Pao dated April 4 that Madam Ching has written a letter saying that she was guilty and asked for forgiveness from the police.

Madam Ching Pik Wai’s Response On April 12, 2006

a) Madam Ching has never denied she and her husband have met with Michael Chong on March 16, she has not spoken to him personally but she told the story in SOGO to Michael Chong’s assistant. Michael Chong then came for a while and her husband spoken to him in both Mandarin and English. Her husband had requested legal assistance from Michael Chong on her problem with SOGO.

b) She has never told the humiliation experience at the police lock-up to Michael Chong.

c) She has never written any letter to the police to ask for forgiveness from the police. On 28th March, she was asked by Sergeant Tohmeng to sign on a form at SOGO to settle the misunderstanding.

(Correction: CPO of Kuala Lumpur Mustafa in his interview in Nanyang Siang Pao dated April 4 said Madam Ching has written letter to SOGO to ask the company to release her, so that she can turn a new leave. Madam Ching claimed that she has never written such letter to SOGO, but she was only asked by Sergeant Tohmeng to fill up a form at SOGO on 28th March 2006)

(more…)