FAC News - Wednesday, November 27, 2002 9:14 AM

It’s not that I love Caesar less…I love Rome more

Brutus killed Caesar not because he loved Caesar less but because he loved Rome more. And, recently, two Penang State Assembly representatives from the ruling coalition, MCA, abstained from voting in opposition to an opposition party resolution -- not because they loved the ruling party less, but because they loved their voters more.

One of the representatives, Tan Cheng Liang, said she did it to help restore voters’ confidence in Barisan Nasional -- which has been rapidly losing Chinese support due to the English language controversy.

Tan explained that the sentiment against the RM1.02billion Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) project was so strong that people threatened to vote for the opposition during the next general election if their grievances were not heard.

“I was merely trying to help the Barisan retain voters’ confidence by bringing up the issue at the state assembly,” she said, adding that the anti-PORR project committee had asked for her help and that 30,000 people had signed a petition opposing the mega project.

Tan and another assemblyman, Lim Boo Chang, are in “hot soup” for abstaining from voting against the opposition motion to have the project deferred.

Tan said the individual vote count by the opposition took all of them by surprise. “There had been no calls for such votes since I became a member of the assembly in 1995. I know very well that I cannot support the DAP’s motion.”

“And I certainly did not go against the Barisan. I love Barisan and was merely trying to help it retain its voters’ confidence,” she reiterated.

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister however have not accepted this explanation and have asked that disciplinary action be taken against them -- possibly even expulsion from the party. This would be a move most welcomed as the National Justice Party is always looking for new recruits -- especially from amongst the Chinese and Indian communities.

One thing that is not to clear though, seven UMNO members also did not vote against the opposition motion yet no action is being taken against them. Is action being taken against Tan and Lim just because they are Chinese and the government wants to show how tough they can be against Chinese dissenters?

But then the UMNO guys were smarter than the MCA reps -- they just absented themselves from the assembly so that they did not need to “officially” abstain from voting.