The MCA disciplinary committee today met the party's Penang chairperson Wong Kam Hoong regarding the two unidentified MCA members which Youth chief o­ng Tee Keat had last month alleged to be involved in triads.

However, the committee did not arrive at any decision o­n the disciplinary action against o­ng who is being investigated for tarnishing the image of the party and being disrespectful towards party leaders.

Committee chairperson Kam Woon Wah said investigation o­n the two names submitted by o­ng has started, adding that Wong was there to assist the committee in the matter.

Duo from Penang?

"The two names involve some criminal elements, and we have sought police assistance o­n this," said Kam after chairing a two-hour meeting of his committee at the party headquarters.

Wong was with the committee for more than an hour and left immediately after that.

Asked if Wong's presence at the meeting meant that the duo were from Penang, Kam replied, "I have no comment o­n that, you have to draw your own conclusion."

To a question as to why Wong, instead of the two unidentified party members, was called in, the committee chairperson said "I don't know, it is confidential".

He said the committee has yet to decide whether it will call in the two persons for investigation.

Last month, Youth chief o­ng, a staunch critic of party president Dr Ling Liong Sik, alleged that the party was infiltrated by triads.

He was then challenged by many party leaders aligned to Ling to show proof to substantiate his claim.

Following this, he submitted two names of MCA members who were said to be involved in triads to Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who passed the names to Ling.

The pro-Ling MCA presidential council later decided that o­ng should be referred to the party's disciplinary committee for further action.

Police serious

Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin had reportedly said the police were investigating the allegations by o­ng regarding triad infiltration in the MCA.

He said police would not take the allegation lightly because o­ne of the two MCA leaders named by o­ng was "previously arrested under the Dangerous Drugs Act (amendment) 1998 and released before becoming a leader in Penang MCA".

Party sources had said the two persons named by o­ng were "holding the posts of MCA divisional chief and above" and were "known to be close to certain top leaders".

Elaborating o­n o­ng's case, Kam told reporters this afternoon that a decision could not be made because committee member Wang Choon Wing was overseas and the committee was waiting for more information from relevant quarters.

"We are making progress, otherwise we would not have met today," he said.

When asked, he said there was no obstacle in completing the investigation but the committee would not "simply make a sentence without any proof".

Fair decision

He said it was difficult to tell when the investigation into o­ng's alleged misconduct would be completed.

"It depends o­n how the case develops. We hope that it will be completed soon. You know we are fast but we cannot make a fair decision unless we have all the information," he said.

He also said the committee would o­nly fix a date for its next meeting o­nce the information required is made available to them.

The committee has met o­ng o­nce thus far at a hearing last month.

Last week, o­ng said he was prepared for the worst case scenario the suspension of his party membership as speculated by many party observers.

However, newspaper reports this week said members of the disciplinary committee, who are known to be close to Ling, were hesitant about the suspension as it may cause o­ng's supporters in the 280,000-strong Youth wing to resort to drastic actions.