Former Sabah Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat is seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak on the possibility of an “out-of-court” settlement on his aborted Goddess of the Sea (Mazu) statue in Kudat.

Najib had raised the possibility of either an amicable solution or an out-of-court settlement during his maiden visit as PM to Sabah earlier this week.

chong kah kiat and sabah “I have in fact requested for an appointment. I hope that I will be able to see him,” said Chong for whom time is of the essence now since the matter is already pending in the High Court in Kota Kinabalu.

“I appreciate his (Najib’s) good view. I am sure he meant well because he knows the background of this case when I met him. At that time, he was the deputy prime minister.”

Chong’s bid to meet with Najib also comes in the wake of the state government approving an application by the Hainan Federation of Sabah and Labuan (HFSL) to put up their own statue of Mazu in Kudat.

Chong welcomed the HFSL move but pointed out that his “statue has not become redundant in the process”.

He noted that the new Mazu statue project was initiated by John Lim Yu Sin, the political secretary to State Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai, “and so that should make things easy”.

Lim is also the president of the FT Hainan Association, a member of the HFSL which applied for the land to site the new Mazu project. It was Dr Yee who announced the new Mazu statue project in Kudat on behalf of the state government.

'The more statues, the better'

“The more statues of any religion, be it Christian, Buddhist, Taoist that comes up, the better for the country,” said Chong who embarked on his own project, according to him, after receiving “divine instructions” from the Goddess of the Sea.

goddess of mercy 230409 photo file “Now, they will have to explain why my approved project was not allowed to proceed after 18 months.”

“A lot of my people, and also the devotees in Sabah, want to know why my approved project was stopped when it was almost completed.”

He added that, in fact, he can query why the new statue has been approved while the approval for his project was rescinded after works had begun.

All the more so, since many reasons were trotted out by the powers-that-be to justify the cancellation of his project when the same reasons are also applicable to the new statue project.

“However, I will not do so (query),” assured Chong, who resigned as deputy chief minister and minister of tourism, under the rotation formula in the Musa cabinet, after the project was stopped on April 13, 2007.

The political burden, continued Chong, will fall on the four Chinese ministers in the state cabinet who have been entrusted by the state government with the building of the new Mazu statue project.

“They will have a lot of explaining to do,” said Chong. “I am tired. Too much politicking. I think that we should not play too much politics.”

Alternative site and RM2 mil compensation

goddess of the sea statue sabah court hearing ansari and chong 220409 It is not known whether Najib can succeed where his predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had failed. Chong has no intention to budge even an inch on the matter, according to his lawyers, Ansari & Co.

The last offer on the Mazu case, as revealed by Minister in the PM’s Department, Nazri, in Kuala Lumpur two days ago, is an alternative site for Chong’s Mazu statue and compensation of RM2 million for the works already carried out. Chong would have the choice of three alternatives sites, added Nazri.

“The original site is not suitable since it’s too near a mosque. We have received 10,000 signatures from Kudat against the Mazu statue.”

“They (Nazri and others) are from West Malaysia. They do not know the background. They do not know the real story. If they knew the real story they would know what to say rightly,” rebutted Chong. “I do not blame them for not knowing the truth.”

Chong has since testified in court under oath that there were no objections from the Muslim community in Kudat against the erection of the statue of Mazu. The trial started on Jan 12 and the plaintiff has so far called three witnesses, of whom two have already been cross-examined.

The case has since been referred to the Court of Appeal for declarations on several points of law.

musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 The action in the Court of Appeal followed after Judicial Commissioner Yew Jen Kie threw out with costs an application late last month by the Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and three defendants to strike out Chong’s civil suit over the decision to rescind the approval given to build the statue and his originating motion.

Chong, in his civil suit, is seeking a declaration from the court that Musa had in giving directions and orders to the other defendants, acted mala fide and/or in abuse of his power as the chief minister and/or ultra vires the local government ordinance and the town and country planning ordinance.

By the time that Chong’s Mazu project was brought to a halt, a 20-foot platform to place the 88 feet statue project had already been completed.

Work was about to begin on assembling 408 pieces of specially-imported crafted granite stones which would make up the statue when works stopped. The RM1.5 million worth of granite pieces from China are still at the 2.3 acre site and kept in 23 containers.

Chong initiated the Mazu statue project in Kudat as chair of the Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation and a member of the Kudat Moral Uplifting Society.