Guan Eng's associate apologises for outburst against Sim

Summary

• Tan Khong Chong, an associate of DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng, apologised for his outburst following a dinner event, saying, “I regretted what I have done” and accepting full responsibility.

• Penang DAP chief Steven Sim downplayed the incident as “just a storm in a teacup,” urging unity and praising Tan as a loyal party member.

DAP national chairperson Lim Guan Eng’s associate, Tan Khong Chong, has apologised for his outburst on Saturday against Penang DAP chief Steven Sim.

“I regretted what I have done and am fully responsible for my own action,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Sim downplayed the issue and said he does not wish to prolong issues that do not benefit the party.

“When I was appointed as the Penang DAP chairperson, I made party unity the core of our efforts to provide better services to the people of Penang.

“Therefore, I don’t want to prolong issues that don’t benefit the party. I wish to emphasise again that it was just a storm in a teacup, let us move on and move forward, together and stronger,” he said in a Facebook post this evening.

The human resources minister also reiterated that the only thing that mattered was that the dinner to pay tribute to DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang went smoothly in a joyous atmosphere.

“The other things are not important,” he said.

Sim also said he has known Tan for a long time, and praised him as a loyal party member.

‘Fan gu zai’

Tan’s outburst occurred after the conclusion of the dinner to celebrate Kit Siang’s 84th birthday and celebrate his recent conferment of the Darjah Utama Pangkuan Negeri title by the Penang governor.

Tan, who is Guan Eng’s special assistant, confronted Sim after the dinner and shouted insults at him.

Among others, he called Sim “fan gu zai” (traitor) repeatedly for nearly 10 seconds, hurled Hokkien vulgarities, and accused Sim of trying to undermine his “boss” (Guan Eng).

Sim appeared unfazed during the incident - neither responding nor engaging with Tan - and instead continued to smile and interact with other attendees at the dinner.

Ironically, this happened on the same day that party secretary-general Anthony Loke dismissed claims of any internal strife within the party.

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