Tuesday, February 3, 2015

MEDIA CONFERENCE AT DAP PERAK HEADQUARTERS, IPOH ON 3/2/2015 (TUESDAY) BY NGEH KOO HAM, MP FOR BERUAS, PERAK



1)    Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak must sack Agriculture and Agro based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for stirring up racial disharmony, acting base on a complete lie without verification and proven he will lie to avoid responsibility.

2)      Ngeh Koo Ham, MP for Beruas demands Ismail Sabri Yaakob to retract his defamatory statement and to apologise to him and his family for describing them as ‘anti-Islam’.
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I was shocked in disbelief when the Agriculture and Agro-based Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob called on Malays to boycott Chinese businesses to lower prices in particular the Old Town White Coffee chain owned by Old Town Bhd which he said I owned shares. He further said that Malays are still refusing to boycott Old Town White Coffee what more when its owner is said to be the DAP Ngeh family of Perak who are infamously known to be anti-Islam. He further stated that as long as the Malays don’t change, the Chinese will take the opportunity to oppress the Malays.

I would like to state that never at any point of time did I own any share in Old Town Bhd which owns the Old Town White Coffee chain. A search with the Companies Commission of Malaysia will confirm that I do not own any share in the company. Instead the company is owned by many corporations including Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Berhad, Amanah Raya Trustees Berhad, Maybank Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bdh, RHB Capital Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd, Citicorp Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd,  Citicorp Nominees (Asing) Sdn Bhd, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and others. I cannot see how these shareholders can be ‘chinese’ as described by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. A copy of the CCM search on the company is attached herewith.

I have through the media demanded that he retracts and apologises to me and my family for describing us as anti Islam. He avoided responsibility for his statement by saying that he was not referring to me specifically by name as there are many Ngehs in Perak. Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is clearly lying when he said he was not referring to me and my family. There is only one DAP Ngeh family in whole of Perak and that is my family. I challenged him to name another that he has known when he made the said defamatory statement. Therefore, it is clearly proven that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will lie to escape responsibility. The danger posed by a man holding public office who is willing to lie to escape responsibility is greater than a man holding public office being involved in a sexual scandal. The former will cause great harm to the country while the damage caused by the latter is often confined to himself and his family.

In view of the above I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to sack Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as a minister for the following reasons:

(i)  For causing racial discord and disharmony.
(ii) For acting base on a complete lie without verification.
(iii) For lying to avoid responsibility.

I also demand that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob retracts his allegation that my family and I are anti Islam when we are not, apologises to us publicly and offer us a reasonable compensation for the damage  he has done to our family.

The Sessions Court at Kuala Lumpur has on 25/4/2014 in a judgment ordered The New Straits Press (Malaysia) Bhd and its journalist, Sylvia Looi Lee Phing to pay me a sum of RM200,000-00 and RM15,000-00 costs for inter alia accusing me of being a religious bigot. The Defendants paid the compensation and costs in full without filing any appeal.

I have been proven in Court that I am not a religious bigot and as a Member of Parliament I attend religious functions of all faiths including those of the Islamic faith.

I have sponsored amongst others Hari Raya open houses, group circumcision organized by mosques and Muslim religious groups and gave aid to needy muslims.

Therefore, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob have clearly defamed us when he called me and my family as being anti Islam.


Dated this 3rd day of February 2015.



YB DATO’ NGEH KOO HAM
MP for Beruas
Perak State Assemblyman for Sitiawan
Deputy Secretary General,
DAP Malaysia

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