By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, July 25: Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen testified today as a witness in the defamation case brought against him by Dr Sim Kui Hian.
During his testimony, Chong stated that two Facebook posts he made on April 15 and April 18, 2020, were critical of the Sarawak government’s food aid distribution policy during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in April 2020.
He accused the government of unfairly distributing RM200,000 in food aid to each state constituency, while discriminating against the four opposition-held constituencies in Kuching—Padungan, Pending, Batu Kitang, and Kota Sentosa.
Chong explained that his criticism was based on an official memorandum from the Ministry of Welfare dated April 3, 2020, which outlined the allocation of RM200,000 to each state constituency for food aid.
The memorandum stated that each state assemblyman’s service center would receive RM200,000 to purchase food for their constituency and could apply for reimbursement from the Provincial Disaster Management Committee (JBB) if the expenses were paid upfront.
He presented the second-to-last paragraph of the memorandum and its attachment, which detailed the allocation amounts, the names of state assembly members, and the respective constituencies, to illustrate the apparent discrimination against the four Opposition constituencies in Kuching.
Chong highlighted that while the plaintiff, Dr Sim, received RM200,000 for his own constituency of Stampin, the four Opposition-held constituencies’ food aid, totaling RM1 million, was managed exclusively by his service center.
In contrast, the Tasik Biru state assemblyman, Datuk Henry Harry Jinep, managed food aid for his own constituency and another constituency, receiving a total of RM400,000. This, Chong argued, left the four Opposition constituencies in Kuching with no allocated funds.
According to Chong, inquiries with the Resident Office of Kuching revealed that Opposition assembly members were not authorized to access the RM200,000 food aid funds or request that the resident office use the funds for food aid in Ppposition constituencies.
The resident office confirmed that they had to follow the instructions outlined in the official memorandum.
Chong expressed his confusion as to why, despite Dr Sim’s receipt of these funds, there was no visible effort to distribute food aid to the needy in the four Opposition constituencies.
He also noted that even his own constituency of Stampin saw no such distribution. Thus, he claimed that the criticism of Sim for failing to effectively use the funds for food aid was justified.
Chong asserted that his criticisms were warranted and should not be considered defamatory.
The court adjourned the session, scheduling it to resume on July 26, 2024. — DayakDaily
