MCA vice-president Chew Mei Fun will commence legal action against DAP's Damansara Utama assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin over “false allegations” made against her in connection with a piece of land sold to MCA Selangor below market price.  

Chew specifically found fault with a video released on Sept 14 on Yeo’s official Facebook page.

“After consulting with my lawyers, I have now decided to commence legal action against Yeo Bee Yin (photo) for her false allegations in a video recording that I have been instrumental in helping MCA Selangor to buy a piece of land below market value in the year 2006 and 2007 and also forcefully evicted squatters there.

“The statements published in the said video, inter alia, are far from the truth, grossly negligent, reckless, deliberate, malicious and aimed to lower my esteem in the eyes of the public.

“I will be sending her a letter of demand to request for an apology and to remove the video from her Facebook page,” Chew said, reading from a statement at Wisma MCA in Kuala Lumpur today.

Chew referred to the part in the video where Yeo had touched on her reputation in MCA, with regard to the land.

She also took issue with Yeo, who spoke in Mandarin, asking her to reflect on her actions.

Chew said these lines, would be understood to mean that she was "unfit to hold office" and "that she had abused her authority while holding public office".

Yeo later issued a statement, together with Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, saying they welcomed legal action from Chew and stood by their allegations against her.

They previously claimed that as former Petaling Jaya Utara MP, Chew had been part of the District Land Committee (JTK) authorised to approve land deals in her constituency.

They claimed that Chew was thus complicit in a deal where MCA Selangor had obtained approval for the one-acre land, located in Kampung Cempaka in Petaling Jaya in 2007, before purchasing it at RM1 per square foot in 2008 for a total of RM52,000.

Yeo and Pua estimated the market price of the land to be RM400 per square foot, worth a total of RM18 million.

Chew has maintained that while she knew about the deal, she was not privy to details as MPs were not part of the JTK, and had no authority over land matters.

Check your facts

Meanwhile, Chew hinted at a possibility of also taking legal action against Pua but said: “Wait.

“One by one, lah.

“Pua, as a two-term MP and for him not to know about this (that MPs did not sit in JTK meetings) is shocking and hilarious. This is basic knowledge for an MP,” she said.

Chew also cast doubt upon Pua’s claim that MCA Selangor had purchased the land in question at RM1 per square foot.

“Many of his (Pua) facts are actually wrong. Please ask him to check his facts.

“MCA Selangor had applied for the land according to law, so I don’t see any problems with it.

“MCA is actually giving a service to the public,” Chew added.

MCA Selangor previously claimed that the deal followed ordinary protocol and was completely above board.

Yesterday, Pua had questioned if it was ethical to allow a political party to purchase land at preferential prices, calling the act a “breach of trust” as such prices were usually reserved for land used for places of worship.