Jelapang folk still furious with Hee - Malaysiakini

Lee Way Loon | Feb 14, 09 12:12pm

Arguably the most hated woman in Malaysia at the moment, Hee Yit Foong was again the main target of public resentment. This time at a ceramah in her constituency of Jelapang on Thursday night.

The 1600-strong crowd at Pakatan Rakyat's 11th ceramah addressing the Perak political crisis responded emotionally when Pakatan leaders criticised Hee for her defection.

When ousted exco Nga Kor Ming asked the crowd whether they thought Hee should resign, almost every one in attendance raised their hands to say yes.

Nga and ousted Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin also apologised to the crowds for Hee's defection.

The ceramah is widely seen as a strategy by DAP to whip up public sentiment against Hee after she claimed that she quit the party because she was marginalised.

Judging from the crowds' response and the RM4,106 in donations collected during the ceramah, it seems the strategy paid off.

Although police have banned political ceramah in the state, Pakatan had managed to obtain a permit for the ceramah in Jelapang on Thursday night.

Chee: She is 'rubbish'

Among the DAP assemblypersons invited to speak were Keranji assemblyperson Chen Fook Chye and Buntong assemblyperson A Sivasubramaniam.

Chen, who was previously close to Hee, poured scorn on his former friend, going as far as to call her "rubbish". He added that instead of admitting her wrong move in defecting, Hee had tried to blame the state party leadership for her move.

Chen ended his fiery speech by shouting, "I want to kick this rubbish away!", prompting the crowd to join him in blasting Hee.

The final speaker of the night, Nizar, stressed that he was still the menteri besar and slammed Barisan Nasional for using "dirty tricks" to topple the Pakatan-led state government.

He also urged voters to vote against BN in the upcoming Bukit Gantang by-election to send a message of no-confidence to the new government.

Thursday's ceramah is a clear indication that instead of abating with time, public anger and resentment for Hee is only increasing and judging from the crowd response, it would be safe to say that the BN-friendly independent should stay well away from her constituency, indeed Perak, for some time to come.