Madam Ching’s Rebuttal to 2 Press Conferences of Michael Chong
Wednesday, 12-04-2006Rebuttal 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)
Malay Mail, April 12, 2006
CCTV recordings back Chong’s version of events
April 11
KUALA LUMPUR: He was accused of not carrying out a thorough investigation, but MCA Public Services and Complaint Department head Datuk Michael Chong is taking it all in his stride.
“Mr Cool” thanked Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok, for her “words of wisdom” — which were widely published in various Chinese dailies. Kok had said he should have conducted a thorough investigation before going public on Taiwanese Lim Nee Cheng Pik Wai who was accused of shoplifting.
“Thank you for your advice, Teresa. However, I strongly feel that you should have done your own investigation before holding the Press conference on March 30. You cannot go public based on her allegations.
“This is unfair to the police and has tarnished their image. Ask yourself, was your action fair to other parties? Judge yourself before you judge others,” said Chong.
At a Press conference at the department yesterday, Chong produced a copy of a CCTV recording to prove that Lim actually spoke to him on March 16, five days after she was arrested for alleged shoplifting.
At that time, Lim was out on police bail.
The CCTV recording showed Lim and her Malaysian husband Walter Lim, entering the department at 11.22am on March 16, where they spent 30 minutes with Chong’s assistant, Novena Ting.
Chong came out from his room and stood at Ting’s desk for two minutes at 11.38am to listen to Lim’s claims – that she was asked to pirouette in the nude for two policewomen and had her money stolen.
Chong subsequently pulled a chair from the next table and sat with them for another six minutes before leaving.
During the conversation, Lim had said on the day she was arrested, she had picked a few clothes for her daughter-in-law.
Without paying, she headed to a different department and finally to the ladies shoes department.
She had said that she planned to pay at the end of the shopping trip as it was a common practice in Taiwan to allow shoppers to go to different departments to pick up items and pay before exiting.
The couple left at 11.58am after they were advised by Ting to return after lunch so that lawyer Jesvinderjit Singh, can advise her further on the case.
“I spent eight minutes with them. I was sitting across her, don’t tell me we did not even look at each other or speak to one another? It is not true when she claimed she had no chance to speak to me. Her husband spoke to me in English, while Lim added on in Mandarin throughout the conversation,” said Chong.
He added that Lim was emotional and had used hand gestures to illustrate her point as she does not speak Bahasa Malaysia or English.
The couple returned at 2.24pm and was attended to by Jesvinderjit who advised Lim to return to the shopping centre with the police to negotiate with the management not to press charges and if that did not work, the department would help.
“I spoke to them for 13 minutes and I was shown receipts from a textile company where Lim had shopped before heading to Sogo. I felt it was more important for Lim to speak to the shopping centre first before she proceeded with the complaints against the police,” Jesvinderjit said.
The department did not hear from Lim for two weeks, and Chong assumed that the case had been settled amicably.
On March 28, Sogo dropped the charge.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Mustafa Abdullah was quoted as saying in a Chinese daily on April 4 that Lim had written a letter saying that she was guilty and asked for forgiveness from the police.
Lim was subsequently released taking into consideration her age.
Mustafa had also expressed his regret and described Lim as ungrateful by claiming at a Press conference with Kok on March 30 that she was forced to pirouette in the nude and had her money stolen while she was in custody.
On April 8, Chong held a Press conference saying that Lim’s statement was inconsistent as she did not tell him that she was asked to do ear squats.
In yesterday’s The Malay Mail report, Lim demanded an apology from Chong over his statement, describing it as incorrect.
“This is my last Press conference on this matter. I will not apologise, if Lim wants to sue me, go ahead, I cannot help it.
“I speak the truth and I will defend myself in court. I don’t intend to sue, that is not my style. I don’t mean to blow this matter out of proportion, I saw Lim’s case as a serious allegation.
“If I did not care, why did I engage Jesvinderjit to help her?,” said Chong
Comment by teropong2004 — Tuesday, 11-04-2006 @ 15: 28.55 | Edit This
On March 28, Sogo dropped the charge.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Mustafa Abdullah was quoted as saying in a Chinese daily on April 4 that Lim had written a letter saying that she was guilty and asked for forgiveness from the police.
Lim was subsequently released taking into consideration her age.
Mustafa had also expressed his regret and described Lim as ungrateful by claiming at a Press conference with Kok on March 30 that she was forced to pirouette in the nude and had her money stolen while she was in custody.
On April 8, Chong held a Press conference saying that Lim’s statement was inconsistent as she did not tell him that she was asked to do ear squats.
In yesterday’s The Malay Mail report, Lim demanded an apology from Chong over his statement, describing it as incorrect.
“This is my last Press conference on this matter. I will not apologise, if Lim wants to sue me, go ahead, I cannot help it.
The problem is that the police always side with the complaining merchant i.e. they always take it for granted that the customer is always guilty of shoplifting. Faced with this situation, the customer/victim is often placed in a very serious predicament and pressure in the presence of the police and merchant complainer. Very often, threats are made that unless the customer/victim confesses, he/she will be brought away to the police station where no doubt he/she is again harassed/threatened by the officers there. The customer/victim is presumed guilty and given the rough treatment without regards to his/her rights. The customer/victim is always asked to sign an admission letter or a confession. All the while, the police advises the merchant rather than the customer victim, presuming they are guilty. This is actually what happened to my neighbour’s young daughter who was also asked to pay a fine of 5 times the value of the goods purported stolen. Her family is now suing the department store for wrongfully accusing her of theft and making her sign a confession under duress. What happened to this case was that a staff thought he saw her stealing something and got a colleague to back up his story.
Why do our police always assume that the customer is always guilty and side with ther merchant? Shouldn’t the customer be presumed innocent until proven guilty? And why do police officers throw their weight around when they should be protecting the public? No wonder one one trusts the police. This is why the IPCMC is urgently required.
Comment by sheriff singh — Wednesday, 12-04-2006 @ 18: 32.22
Sorry corrections.
The problem is that the police always side with the complaining merchant i.e. they always take it for granted that the customer is always guilty of shoplifting. Faced with this situation, the customer/victim is often placed in a very serious predicament and pressure in the presence of the police and merchant complainer. Very often, threats are made that unless the customer/victim confesses, he/she will be brought away to the police station where no doubt he/she is again harassed/threatened by the officers there. The customer/victim is presumed guilty and given the rough treatment without regards to his/her rights. The customer/victim is always asked to sign an admission letter or a confession. All the while, the police advises the merchant as to what to do rather than the customer victim, presuming they are guilty.
This is actually what happened to my neighbour’s young daughter who was also asked to pay a fine of 5 times the value of the goods purportedly stolen. Her family is now suing the department store for wrongfully accusing her of theft and making her sign a confession under duress. What happened to this case was that a staff thought he saw her stealing something and got a colleague to back up his story.
Why do our police always assume that the customer is always guilty and side with ther merchant? Shouldn’t the customer be presumed innocent until proven guilty? And why do police officers throw their weight around when they should be protecting the public? No wonder no one trusts the police. This is why the IPCMC is urgently required.
Comment by sheriff singh — Wednesday, 12-04-2006 @ 18: 38.46
The issue is about IPCMC, Micheal Chong knows that the Police really are against the IPCMC. Bringing up a case like this again will tip argument for IPCMC at a time where the police are manouvering against it. If Micheal Chong were to stood up for Mdm Ching, he would put himself against the entire police force which would have severe consequence for him and ultimately destroy everything he has done and end up in ignomity. Such is the behavior and fate of eunuchs.
Comment by Bigjoe — Thursday, 13-04-2006 @ 11: 08.02
Professionalism is what the whole system is lack of!
If the police had enough evidences, they should not advice the public prosecutor to drop charges!
If the public prosecutor had dropped charges onthe advice of police instead of the vetting the evidences, the PP is not practicing professionalsim.
Those who lied will face the music eventually.
Professionalism is not only for the police, PP, it applies to all, the hawkers, the government, private sectors, as well as opposition parties.
Put public interests above all, not just for DAP or MCA’s sake, not for UMNO, or MIC, but for all!
Comment by lcclck — Thursday, 13-04-2006 @ 16: 53.01
In addition to the views I put forward earlier, I like to share with you on very recent and current events happened in Taiwan.
The TVBS 2100 featured a very highprofile cases about professionalism needed for their judiciary system.
The issues highlighted from 8.00 a.m. to 9.30a.m. on channel 31 of Astro in Mandarin.
The issues of independence of judiciary is universal all over the world.
The relevance of those issues are similar in nature but take various forms and shapes, and events which will remind us of the need to have real professionalism amongst all.
I meant all, government officials, public sectors, workers, bosses, students(MUST LEARN THIS AS CORE SUBJECTS), teachers, JOURNALISTS, HAWKERS…
For examples, if the petrol cost 30 cents extra, and the hawkers just simply raise the price by 50 to 80 cents per bowl of mee, mixed rice, fried mees…. all these show the lack of professionalism.
The tuition teachers raise 10% of their fees, they showed no professionalism!
While we all wanted the enforcement agencies to be professional, have high integrity, be fair, the hawkers must also be fair to their consumers, and then we can practice fairness as ways of life for all.
We cannot just set high standards for one sector like doctors, engineers, and accountants, lawyers but we also close our eyes on those small businessmen who practice unfair business, like cheating on the spare parts you sent your cars for repair…..
In similar terms, we always complain about the public servants, in particular the police, local authorities who weilded their powers and abuse them for some quick bucks.
We are lack of ability to stick to our principles of fairness, compromised and we tend to accept the inequalities as norm now.
If you are seriously focus on the simple issues, like the highway built at 2.3 metre away from the homes of those poor complaints, dig the evidences, and persistently raise the attentions, and get relevant supports from NGO, remind them if the fire is not extinguished there, they may spread to their houses next!
Issues once happened shall not be concluded and forgotten until justice is served.
of course, after that we let GOD do what is necessary.
Real issue here is the urgent need to have justice addressed, rather than just let time wears out the hotness, we must speedily promote the professionalism, then we have rays of hopes for all Malaysians!
Comment by lcclck — Thursday, 13-04-2006 @ 20: 45.39