KUALA LUMPUR – Quasi-political outfit Muafakat Nasional (MN) has lambasted the “DAP-led” Negri Sembilan government for naming one of the streets in Seremban after the party’s late founding chairman Chen Man Hin.
In a statement today, Negri Sembilan MN’s pro-tem chairman Badrul Hisham Shaharin rubbished the state government’s move as merely a political stunt and questioned Chen’s contribution to the state.
“What is the justification of the late Chen Man Hin to be immortalised with a named street along one of the major roads in Seremban?
“The (former) DAP chairman had served the DAP but not the people of Seremban,’’ said Badrul, better known by his nom de plume, Chegubard, in a Facebook post today.
He also questioned Chen’s credibility as a politician, claiming that Chen had merely carried the torch of the People’s Action Party (PAP) following Singapore’s expulsion from Malaysia.
Badrul also said that Chen was part of DAP’s Setapak Declaration in 1966, alleging that it had involved a pledge by the DAP to eradicate Bumiputera special rights.
The Negri Sembilan government recently agreed to change Jalan Temiang to Jalan Dr Chen Man Hin.
Chen died at the age of 97 in August last year.
The state has also renamed another street in Seremban, Jalan Sikamat, after state religious icon and former mufti, Datuk Sheik Mohd Murtadza Ahmad, in tandem with the naming of Jalan Dr Chen Man Hin.
Both name changes were announced on Wednesday (February 15).
Badrul, a Perikatan Nasional (PN)-friendly activist, however, called out the naming of Jalan Datuk Sheikh Mohd Murtadza Ahmad as an attempt to “conceal and allow the DAP-led government’s move to uplift Chen”.
“To make matters worse, as means to reverse actions taken by the DAP-led state government, they have also changed the name of Jalan Sikamat to include the name of the late Sheikh Mohd Murtadza, a renowned mufti who has contributed greatly to the region.
“If you want to find a political icon of equal stature, better to uplift the name of the late Datuk Ishak Ismail, who is known for his deeds and iron principles,’’ he said, referring to former Lenggeng assemblyman who passed away in 2017. – The Vibes, February 17, 2023
