Liew and Wee recall past debates over dinner

GE14 | Incumbent Ayer Hitam MP Wee Ka Siong and his opponent for the 14th general election, DAP’s Liew Chin Tong, had a chance meeting on Wednesday night, which saw them recalling their past televised debates over dinner.

In a Facebook post today, Liew said attended the dinner at Yong Peng only to find out that Wee was among the guests. On Wee's prodding, the event organisers sat the two together.

"Many of the participants were shocked to see us talking civilly at the dinner. They had never seen two political rivals together before.

"But little did they know that my relationship with Wee goes all the way back to 2005," wrote Liew.

He explained that he and Wee were frequent talk show guests, and supper buddies after the shows, between 2005 and 2009.

"Under (former prime minister) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government there was more tolerance for political TV shows that allowed the government and opposition parties to discuss issues on broadcast media.

"The only rules both sides had to adhere to were - all arguments should be based on facts and the discussions should not attack the prime minister.

"Sadly, when (caretaker prime minister) Najib Razak took over in 2009, his administration put an end to such shows," he said.

Progressive debates

Liew said he pined for the days when political rivals could debate national issues on television, because that was the progressive move for Malaysia.

"Our political differences aside, Wee is MCA's best debater, as nobody seems to understand what (MCA president) Liow Tiong Lai says sometimes.

"In an ideal world, the two candidates vying for the same seat should debate and argue their ideas in public, so that voters can better understand the issues," he wrote.

Now that the two of them will be facing each other at the polls, Liew said he had floated the idea of a debate between the two, but Wee was unable to commit due to scheduling issues.

"I'm hopeful that he will set aside some time for this as Ayer Hitam is one of the focal points in this elections for both BN and Pakatan (Harapan).

"And I long for the days when Wee and me debated issues like we did before the Najib era," he said.

Liew is trying to unseat Wee, the three-term Ayer Hitam MP, which pundits believe will be a difficult task, given that the constituency's demographics do not suit DAP. - Mkini