Unimpressed with the arrest of Perwaja Steel managing director Eric Chia for corruption, DAP said it is still waiting for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to net a 'big fish'.

"Where is the big fish? As long as there are no big fish, his (Abdullah's) credibility is affected," stressed party chairperson Lim Kit Siang yesterday.

The veteran opposition leader was speaking at a DAP forum in Kuala Lumpur, where the party presented its report card on the premier's 100 days in office.

Chia, 71, was today charged with criminal breach of trust amounting to RM76.4 million. The close associate of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had pleaded not guilty and is currently out on a RM2 million bail.

However, Lim said the business tycoon is considered a 'medium-sized fish' only and the Perwaja case "a long running story".

The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) began probing the steel giant in 1996 after it was revealed that Perwaja suffered losses totaling RM2.98 billion as of Dec 31, 1995, including bank loans amounting to about RM7 billion.

"What about big fishes like International Trade and Industries Minister Rafidah Aziz and former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik?" asked the DAP leader.

Both politicians were implicated in an ACA probe , details of which were leaked by Keadilan Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor.

While the duo were later cleared of any wrongdoing, Ezam was slapped with a two-year jail sentence for breaching the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by exposing classified documents. He is currently appealing against the decision.

'Uncaring' government

Meanwhile, DAP publicity secretary Ronnie Liu said the government and its new leader are not as caring as claimed.

He said this is based on a visit to Abdullah's office last November with a group of residents from Sungai Chua, Kajang, who have not received their land titles despite a 10-year wait.

According to him, the residents not only failed to meet the premier despite waiting for him at his office, they have also yet to hear about their case.

"We are told that we have a caring government but even after 100 days, we have yet to receive any news about the residents' land title status," Liu told the 100-odd participants at the forum.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) pro-tem president Dr Mohd Nasir Mohd Hashim, who also spoke at the forum, dismissed the premier's strategies as 'gimmicks' perpetuated by the media.

He said Abdullah had been Mahathir's "office boy" but when the former took over on Nov 1, he was made to look like a "demigod".

"The same praises were given to Mahathir when he first took office in 1981. What happened after that? Nightmare and destruction of democracy.

"Credit should not be given to Abdullah but to the people. Without pressure, haggling, there would be no changes," he added.

Workers' plight

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general G Rajasekaran told the forum that Abdullah could improve the situation for workers by looking at the inefficiency of the Human Resources Ministry.

MTUC is currently embroiled in a controversy with Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn over the ministry's alleged inability to resolve several issues in the past years.

As a result of this, about 1,000 union members gathered submitted a 70-paged memorandum detailing their grouses to Abdullah last month.

However, the workers who claim thy had informed the premier's office a week before the visit, could not meet Abdullah as he had left for Laos..

"If he (Abdullah) is efficient and wants to listen, the least he could have done was to instruct an officer to meet us," said Rajasekaran.