"Bad feng shui" could be the reason the controversial Jalan Pinhorn bungalow could have been sold to the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at a price Umno says is below market value, said DAP vice-chairperson Teresa Kok.

She said this is because many protests are held in front of the bungalow, since Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, started residing there on a rental basis when he became Penang CM.

Citing the seller, Phang Li Koon’s statutory declaration, Kok said the original house owner felt the protests – including one featuring a mock funeral processing for Lim – made the property unattractive.

“She was willing to sell the house to Lim because there had been a lot of protests and controversies, and even funeral processions against Lim outside the house ever since he moved into the house.

“Because the protestors in Penang like to hold protests outside the CM’s house, unlike in Selangor where protestors protest outside the state government building.

“As for Miss Phang, it could be a bad feng shui. That’s why she wanted to sell it to Lim,” she said in her speech at the People’s Congress in Shah Alam today.

Umno is accusing Lim of receiving kickbacks for a separate land deal, through a discount on the bungalow purchase.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating the matter.

Phang in her statutory declaration denied she has business deals with the state, while Lim denies corruption.

Phang also said she was friends with Lim’s wife Betty Chew.

“I believe that as good friends, we normally don’t sell property at higher price.

“It is like I want to sell my house to (former de facto law minister) Datuk Zaid Ibrahim or (Amanah president) Mat Sabu. I won’t sell it with two or three million profit because they are my friends,” she said.

Kok said the issue was blown up in the media in the past weeks to divert from the People’s Congress – a congress organised by the Save Malaysia group to push for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s resignation.

READ: KINIGUIDE on the Jalan Pinhorn bungalow controversy

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