DAP Negri Sembilan is likely to issue a statement within the next few days in relation to the ejection of its vice-secretary Yap Yew Weng from a meeting yesterday that was discussing the current sugar shortage.

Yap complained that there was no prior notice that the meeting, called by the state Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs division, was a closed-door affair meant only for sugar traders.

The incident, reported in the New Straits Times today, occurred at Wisma Persekutuan in Seremban.

Contacted today, Yew, 42, said he was in the building to see a friend, "but when I heard from a group of people that there was a meeting on the sugar shortage, I decided to attend".

He said the party's state-level branches had been keeping track of the sugar shortage and that he had decided to go to the meeting to "update" his information on his own initiative.

"They said, masuk, masuk (come in, come in), so I went in. There was no attendance book to sign, no identification requirements," said Yew, who is special personal assistant to Lobak state assembly representative Loke Siew Fook.

The room, large enough for about 40 people, was filled. There was one large U-shaped conference table, and Yap said he took a seat near the middle.

Police called in

His presence was discovered 90 minutes into the meeting when he stood up to go to the washroom.

"(Meeting co-ordinator V Ravichandran, the division's acting director) asked who I was. When I said DAP Negri Sembilan, he became angry and said I was intruding. Then he told me to remain there while he called the police," said Yap.

Yap said he surrendered his identity card on request, after initially protesting that Ravichandran had no authority to ask for it. Police arrived 30 minutes later and took him away in a patrol car.

While conceding that he had not been handled roughly at the meeting, he said the treatment was nonetheless "rude and uncalled for".

He gave a statement to Seremban police and lodged a police report against Ravichandran. Also present were several committee members of the DAP Lobak branch.

Yap's legal advisor, Siow Kim Leong, said any intention by the police to prefer charges against his client would only be known within a fortnight.

Loke, the state-level vice-president, could not be contacted for comment as he is in Spain to attend the International Union of Socialist Youth festival.