DAP man lodges report against Facebook page alleging Chong’s close ties with F&B companies

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Wong (front, second left) holds up the police report lodged against the Facebook page. With him are (front, from left) former Stampin MP Julian Tan, Abdul Aziz Isa who is special assistant to Chong, and also other DAP members.

KUCHING: A police report was lodged yesterday with regard to a Facebook post, which alleged that Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen would be receiving a 30-per cent profit from eight food and beverage (F&B) companies that had received the approved permits (APs) for sugar import.

The June 27 post also claimed that Chong had ‘close ties’ with these eight companies, having refused to disclose the selection process of the APs.

“We have reasonable belief that the (Facebook) page belongs to a political party, (being used) as a propaganda tool because all of the posts made are only attacking DAP members,” said Padungan assemblyman Wong King Wei, who lodged the police report at the Kuching District police headquarters yesterday.

He said this belief was further strengthened when a member of the alleged political party wrote a Facebook post urging Chong ‘to come clean and name the eight companies (receiving the APs)’.

“The party member, however, did not allege Chong as receiving the 30 per cent profit,” added Wong, who called upon the police to investigate the Facebook page and its link to the party member.

Wong also challenged the administrator of the Facebook page to come forward with evidence to back all allegations, instead of ‘hiding like a mouse behind a social media page’.

“I have also been a victim of this page, when an allegation about me using public funds was posted.

“To my disappointment, no result as to who was behind the page, was revealed by the police or the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission,” he added.

Wong further said the Democratic Action Party (DAP) would take legal action against the culprits once they had been identified.

The police report, he said, would also act as a countermeasure, in that he felt that a series of attacks against the DAP would be imminent as the Sarawak state election was approaching.

Adding on, Wong said the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) was ‘in fact, breaking the monopolisation of sugarimports by two Malaysian companies’.

He said with the change of the federal government, the ministry had successfully made the change and granted the APs to F&B factories to import sugar – starting with the eight companies.

“With direct permits, these companies would be able to import sugar for the benefit of the consumers at large, as the cost of production could be reduced,” he added.