DAP’s Jelapang representative Hee Yit Fong has demanded an apology from secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for saying that party representative in the state who are incommunicado for more than 24 hours without reason will find their seats vacated.

hee yit foong interview 010209 01 Hee, 46, told a press conference at her house last night that she is disappointed with the warning by Lim, made when two PKR state assemblypersons were said to have gone ‘missing’ over the weekend.

While Lim may have been making a pre-emptive strike, it has not gone down well with Hee who herself was deemed to have ‘disappeared’ briefly yesterday, thereby adding to speculation that she too would cross over to Barisan Nasional.

“I don’t understand how he views the state’s representatives. The statement is unfair to me. Usually problems within the party will be solved among members, not through a public statement,” said Hee.

She described Lim’s statement as “heart breaking” for her, given her loyalty towards DAP over the last 20 years.

Hee explained that she had been in her house in Ipoh for most of yesterday, only leaving the premises from 3 to 6pm.

She also said she had switched off her handphone because she was “not feeling well”, which was also the reason why she failed to attend yesterday's meeting called by Mentri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

“I live here in Ipoh, but no one from the party came looking for me (at my house). They could have contacted my husband, but no one did. I thought everything was in order,” said Hee, who is also Perak deputy speaker.

Doubts about future

Hee said she only found out what was going on when she found reporters at her door, upon returning in the evening.

hee yit foong interview 010209 02 Although reiterating that she has never entertained any intention to defect to BN or to leave the DAP, she expressed doubt over her future.

“I intend to stay, but will they eliminate me? This is not my first day in DAP, and I would be heavy-hearted about leaving the party,” she said.

However, talk of Hee defecting from DAP to MCA is not new. Speculation emerged last May, but she has remained in the party.

It is an open secret that Hee has not been on good terms with DAP state leaders, in particular the Ngeh-Nga cousins - Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham and secretary Nga Kor Ming.