KOTA KINABALU: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sabah will be inviting its National Vice Chairperson and Seputeh Member of Parliament Terasa Kok to attend its annual Chinese New Year open on February 21.
According to DAP Sabah Secretary Dr Edwin Bosi, seeing that the Sabah government has barred Teresa from entering the state, they will be officially writing to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman to have the ban temporarily lifted.
Bosi said that the appeal letter will be sent to Musa today and they are appealing to the Chief Minister’s good nature to allow Teresa to come to Sabah so that she can celebrate with DAP supporters in the state.
“We have decided that we want to invite Teresa Kok for our Chinese New Year open house on February 21 in Damai. We will be writing to the Chief Minister to ask him to lift the ban on Teresa.
“This is for the sake of the Chinese New Year which is celebrated by all Malaysians and we don’t see why a Malaysian like Teresa who is also a lawmaker cannot come to Sabah for that reason.
“She is not going to make any problem for the government. She comes to enjoy the celebration with Sabahans,” he stressed.
To be fair to all those who are barred from entering the state, Bosi said the state government should have informed them earlier so that their time is not wasted travelling to Sabah only to find out that they cannot enter and have to leave on the next available flight.
“The law with regards to banning people from entering Sabah is very clear, only those who are extremists and troublemakers should not be allowed into the state as these are people who create disharmony, disunity, affecting the peace in the country.
“These are the people you must focus on and not allowed in,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, DAP Sabah Chief Jimmy Wong pointed out that Teresa was also banned from entering Sarawak but it was temporarily lifted last year by the Chief Minister there so that she could go and pay her last respects and attend the funeral of DAP leader and Bukit Assek assemblyman Wong Ho Leng.
Jimmy said that DAP applied to the Chief Minister of Sarawak to seek specific permission for Teresa to travel to Sarawak so she can pay her last respects to the deceased and surprisingly permission was granted to Teresa to attend the funeral and all the memorial services in Sarawak.
“So now we also apply to the Sabah Chief Minister in the same reason,” he added.
Jimmy was also of the opinion that the reason for the ban was because Musa does not know Teresa personally and therefore not aware that she is a kind-hearted person who is always ready and willing to help others.
“She does not create trouble and she will be here just to enjoy the Chinese New Year celebration and not to give any ceramah at all. Therefore we are inviting the Chief Minister to attend the open house and if the ban on Teresa is lifted, they can meet each other and have a fellowship,” he said.