A press conference by Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai turned into an ugly affair when it was interrupted by a group of Umno members this morning.

The press conference was held at a multi-purpose hall in his constituency, which was located in the compound of the Cheras Umno headquarters.

When contacted, DAP's Tan ( left ) said that the press conference was called to highlight Umno's alleged abuses of government funds allocated by the Prime Minister's Deparment to build multi-purpose halls in Kuala Lumpur.

He said at the press conference he was explaining to reporters on how Umno had abused government funds for the halls by building Umno service centres instead.

Midway through the press conference, a few Umno members came out from the party's office and told Tan's group that they should not be gathering in "their private property".

"They also hurled vulgar words at us and demanded that I retract my statement," he said.

Punched and insulted

According to Tan, the Umno members, which by then have surrounded him and his supporters, tried to push him.

A Chinese press photographer was also punched in the incident ( see photos ).

Guangming Daily photographer Koh Chun Seng, when contacted, confirmed that he was punched on his right ear.

He added that he was also verbally assaulted when trying to snap photos of the whole event.

According to Koh, a man in the Umno group had shouted "Move, move. Don't snap pictures. Just go away from here."

"I responded by telling him there was no need for him to shout at us. That led to another man in the group punching me," said Koh.

Koh has lodged a police report at the Cheras police station over the incident and he is going back there to submit photographs as evidence.

Umno to lodge report too

Tan told Malaysiakini that the abuse of government funds by Umno had been going on for a number of years.

"The problem started way back in 2002. They used the allocation to build multi-purpose halls for their service centres," said Tan.

"The PM's Department allocates the money for the halls' maintenance and these people use it to hire workers for their service centres," he lamented, adding that the problem was evident in Bandar Tun Razak.

"At one part of the town, there are five multi-purpose halls within half a kilometre. And there are three halls in another road."

Meanwhile, Cheras division Umno chief Syed Ali Alhabshee has blamed Tan for the dispute, acccording to a China Press report.

Syed said that Tan had angered Umno members by being "rude and encroaching into Umno's private property".

He plans to lodge a police report against Tan for trespassing.