Lim Kit Siang's support for Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who turns 93 this year, to become prime minister again contradicted his earlier statement regarding the late Dr Lim Chong Eu, said former Penang chief minister Koh Tsu Koon.

He pointed out that during DAP's Tanjung Bungah campaign, Kit Siang had described Chong Eu, who was then 71, as too old to be chief minister of Penang.

"Lim (Chong Eu) was only 71 (then) and he (Kit Siang) said, Chong Eu is too old.

"Kit Siang also turned 77 this year, how about the 92-year-old?” he asked in reference to Mahathir.

"I am not saying Mahathir is too old. But when people ask if I would return to politics, I tell them, let's wait until I am 92, then I would make a comeback,” he added on a sarcastic note during his speech at Gerakan's 50th-anniversary celebration at its headquarters in Penang last night.

Kok also noted that despite being branded too old by Kit Siang then, Chong Eu had lived for another two decades.

"If the Gerakan strongman had been able to rule for one or two more terms, he would have definitely offered more contribution to Penang,” he added.

Koh, a former Gerakan president and Penang chief minister, also recalled how someone had attempted to convince him to join DAP in the early days.

However, he claimed that after observing Kit Siang “stirring up public sentiment and currying favour by claptrap”, he was not impressed.

"During 'Tanjung 1', Kit Siang said Koh is still young. He is a good guy, but joined the wrong party. He is part of the corrupted political camp led by the dictator Mahathir. So, how now?" he asked.

Koh also criticised DAP's campaign tactic by targeting rival leaders, arguing that it is the Chinese community which would suffer in the end.

"For Gerakan, we don't subscribe to this type of political culture, where we have to kill each other until the last man standing," he added.

Pakatan of 'Pan Jinlian'

Koh also said Gerakan could hold its head high based on the fact that during its four-decade rule of Penang, none of its public office bearers was accused or charged with corruption.

"Whereas, there are a lot of stories now for the past five to 10 years," he said in reference to the DAP-led state government.

Meanwhile, Penang Gerakan chief Teng Chang Yeow (photo) taunted the opposition coalition for being inconsistent with regard to changing its name from Pakatan Rakyat to Pakatan Harapan.

He described the coalition as "Pan Jinlian ", a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature, for betraying the people and their own set of principles.

"As we know, Pan Jinlian cheated on her husband. It is just like Anwar Ibrahim turning against his own Reformasi movement, and Mahathir setting up Bersatu which is not in line with Vision 2020.

"Of course the worst is DAP who used to call Mahathir all kinds of names, but now hug each other to betray the Chinese community,” he said.

Penang Gerakan Youth acting chief Jason Loo, in his speech, criticised Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for singing an anti-GST song with children.

"Koh (when he was the chief minister) spent his time to think about Penang's future, but he (Guan Eng) calls a press conference in the morning to sue others, then scolds people when he attends dinners at night,” he said.