MCA vice-president o­ng Ka Ting today said he hoped a recent poison pen letter alleging he has links with triads has nothing to do with the o­ngoing power tussle in the party.

He said this when asked if the letter could have been written and circulated by his political opponents amid an open fight between two factions in MCA since mid-2001.

There is speculation that O­ng is eyeing the party president's post after current chief Dr Ling Liong Sik steps down. Ling's term expires in 2005.

'Unusual letter'

Ong said he would have ignored the letter except that he found it to be an "unusual" o­ne. It was first sent to the party central delegates weeks ago before it was sent to divisional leaders and distributed in public venues such as market, he told reporters this afternoon.

"I usually do not care about these things. But the circulation did not stop, the letter was continuously sent to many people, that's when I smelt evil intentions and malice behind it," he said.

"As a minister and MCA vice-president, I knew I could no longer tolerate this unhealthy, irresponsible and malicious incident and had to do something about it."

He said he hoped that the perpetrators who wrote and circulated the letter will "repent and not continue with what they have done".

"I would rather not speculate because I need to take care of the image of the party, I am a magnanimous and forgiving person... I just hope it is not related to the internal problems in the party," he said.

"In politics, some people like to use such dirty, underhanded tactics to smear their opponents but I do not agree with their way."

MCA was split into what is known as Team A and Team B since May 2001, a year before the party was scheduled to have its triennial election . Team A is led by party president Ling while Team B is led by his deputy Lim Ah Lek.

Ong, who is aligned to Team A, is the former political secretary of Ling and is seen as Ling's preferred successor.

Contents of letter

Ong, who is also the housing and local government minister, lodged a police report yesterday about the letter, which is said to have tarnished his image.

He said he wanted the police to investigate the matter and identify the perpetrators behind this. He also denied all the allegations, saying that they were "totally concocted, untrue and defamatory".

"Since childhood days, I have never (been) involved in any criminal or illegal activities. The allegation that I am linked to triads in MCA does not hold water. People who know me can testify to this," he said.

The poison-pen letter, written in Chinese, cited the two names and claimed that they were close friends of o­ng.

It alleged in detail that o­ng, while being the deputy home minister from 1995 to 1999, had abused his ministerial powers to help the duo when they ran into trouble with the authorities.

They were said to have been made MCA divisional chief in Penang and Selangor respectively, and had allegedly helped recruit gangsters as party members.

The letter also said the duo were involved in various illegal businesses such as money-lending, gambling and prostitution.

The leader from Selangor was later killed in a triad dispute, while the o­ne from Penang has allegedly fled the country. When the latter's father died several years ago, o­ng's name had appeared in the obituary together with that of Ling, offering condolences.

In an Oriental Daily News report today, o­ng did not deny that his name was in the obituary but stressed that it was used unwittingly and that he did not know the two triad leaders named in the letter.

Explanation offered

Ong also said he had given an explanation to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but declined to divulge details about the meeting.

He said he was confident that "justice will prevail and good will triumph over evil".

The poison-pen letter is the latest 'triad' episode to affect the party since pro-Team B MCA Youth chief o­ng Tee Keat alleged in March that the party was infiltrated by triads.

Tee Keat had submitted two names to deputy premier Abdullah after Team A leaders repeatedly challenged Tee Keat to provide names in backing the allegation.

Last month, Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin had reportedly said the police were investigating the names provided.

He said police would not take Tee Keat's allegation lightly because o­ne of the names given was "previously arrested under the Dangerous Drugs Act and released before becoming a leader in Penang MCA".