Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is all geared up to face MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek in a debate this Saturday, now wants a follow-up session in English or Bahasa Malaysia.

Lim said the follow-up session should be held for the benefit of all Malaysians, and that he would be “very happy” to attend the event if it is planned for sometime next week.

The DAP secretary general said that he was confident the Malaysian public would welcome the second event “eagerly”.

NONE He added that he has despatched a letter to the Asian Strategic and Leadership Institute (Asli) chief executive director Michael Yeoh ( right ), who is the organiser of the upcoming event on Feb 18 in Kuala Lumpur.

“The language used during the debate would be principally in Mandarin, however, this information was only carried in the Chinese press and not in English newspapers like The Star ,” he told reporters in Penang.

“I strongly feel that it is necessary for the benefit of the rest of Malaysia that we do a follow-up debate either in English or Bahasa Malaysia,” he added.

Lim’s third debate with BN leaders

Entitled ‘ Chinese at the Crossroads - Is the Two-Party System Becoming a Two-Race System’, the debate will be held at Berjaya Times Square, from 5pm-6pm.

Asli will co-organise the event with the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap) - a MCA think tank - as one of the sessions during the political conference.

NONE The political conference, entitled ‘Malaysian Chinese at the Political Crossroads’ will be officiated by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and attended by MCA leaders, including deputy president Liow Tiong Lai and veeps Chor Chee Heung, Gan Ping Sieu and Dr Ng Yen Yen.

This is the third time that Lim will be facing a BN leader at a public debate; the two previous occasions being with Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon and the then MCA Youth chief Ong Tee Keat.

Lim said another session in English and or the national language would also be good for democracy.

Those who are not well-versed in Mandarin can enjoy the second debate and hear the “contest of ideas, ideals and principles”.

Meanwhile, Chua said in his twitter that Astro Awani 501 will air the debate “live” with BM translation.

However, Lim is not in favour of the Malay translation as there would not be spontaneous response from the public. If there were translations, he added: “I hope that it would be done properly.”