The reasons offered by MCA for not activating the Chang Ming Thien (CMT) Education Fund are "unacceptable", according to the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Its chairman Ngan Ching Wen today told malaysiakini that MCA leaders should be held accountable for the RM10 million not being "properly utilised"to help needy students since it was set up in 1981 and for failing to monitor and manage the fund properly.

He was commenting on the report released by MCA yesterday in Penang on the fund, which was accepted unanimously by the MCA central committee meeting chaired by its president Dr Ling Liong Sik. The report was prepared by a three-member committee comprising MCA treasurer William Chek, Lau Yin Pin and its legal bureau chief Leong Tang Chong.

The Sun today quoted the report released by Ling as saying that the delay of the fund was caused by a series of events, such as the time taken by Bank Negara to approve the sale and purchase transaction of UMBC shares from General Holdings to Multi-Purpose Holdings (MPHB), the death of the donor, Chang Ming Thien, the MCA leadership crisis between 1983 and 1985, and the collapse of the deposit-taking co-operatives.

Baseless reasons

Ngan said that the reasons given were merely excuses and baseless as MCA could have handed the fund to any Chinese organisations like Dong Jiao Zong, Chinese assembly halls or Chinese chambers of commerce to manage the fund if they were short-handed or if, as implied, the management of the fund was not aligned with their party's agenda.

"What MCA needs to do is for someone to come forward and bravely admit that they've not done it properly," he stressed.

Ngan stated that MCA had "let down" the late philanthropist Chang's wishes, as the party leaders who served on the fund's Board of Trustees headed by the party president had failed to manage the fund properly and productively [#1](Fund trustees must explain 'scandal', Oct 3).[/#]

"It was managed by them and monitored by them," he said, adding that there was no separation of the two functions to ensure that they operate independently of each other.

The report claimed that the education fund is managed by MPHB, and we never given to MCA to manage, and that MCA is monitoring and offering the technical help to the fund.

"Only after 20 years, they claimed they are not managing the fund. Even if the fund was not managed by them, they (the party leaders) havenot monitored it properly," he said, adding that MCA has thus failed in its responsibility.

MCA should have taken action if the fund was not activated after a long time and correct any problems the fund was facing since 1981, Ngan said.

Still unclear

Last Saturday, Nanyang Siang Pau reported that MPHB lawyers had given a notice of appeal to General Holding's lawyers on Friday on the recent High Court judgment ordering the return of RM10 million to the latter company which is owned by Chang's family.

Ngan commented that the appeal should not have been filed by MPHB at all as it will further delay the disbursement of the fund to financially needy students who have not benefited at all from the fund for 20 years.

"The money does not belong to MPHB, why should they appeal? There is no direct interest between the fund and them," he stressed.

The release of the report has not cleared the air over the fund, but still posed many questions on the fund, especially on the interests on the RM13.225 million withheld by MPHB for the past nine years, Ngan said.

An accounts statement in the 1998/99 MPHB annual report recently showed that the original sum of RM10 million had earned RM7.6 million in interest up till 1990[#1](Group queries fund's 'missing' interest payment, Oct 16 ).[/#]

Of the RM7.6 million, RM4.37 million was given to CMTF and RM3.225 million was withheld by MPHB purportedly for tax purposes. Since then, the RM4.37 million which was put as fixed deposit had grown to RM7.85 million after earning further interest, according to another report in Nanyang Siang Pau today.