MCA denies claims that the party cohorts with DAP

PETALING JAYA: MCA has refuted claims that the party is in cohorts with DAP after a video of the two parties' top leaders sharing a light moment surfaced on social media.
MCA publicity spokesperson, Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said the allegation was nothing more than a pathetic attempt by certain quarters to discredit the Chinese-based party.
Ti added the video featuring MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng meeting and chatting at a restaurant was nothing more than a coincidence.
"The posting claimed that both parties were only out to safeguard the interests of their own race and ethnicity. I want to make it clear that the DAP can never ever be equated to the MCA.
"We are a devoted and dedicated party known for our strong service record and have never exploited racial sentiments or provoked racial hatred," Ti said in a statement.
The video, which was uploaded on the Facebook of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia's (Isma) activist Muhammad Luthfi Abdul Khalid, showed Wee and Lim joking and laughing with each other in a restaurant.
Also present in the 1-minute clip were several other DAP leaders such as Lim Kit Siang, Anthony Loke and Liew Chin Tong.
The caption that followed the video stated that the fight between DAP and MCA shown in public was merely a "series of drama" to hide behind their common agenda of safeguarding a particular ethnic group.
Ti said the meeting between Wee and Lim took place in November last year after the great flood that devastated Penang.
He added at the aftermath of the flood, Wee had attempted to get in touch with Lim, who is also the Penang Chief Minister, to discuss on the help to be offered to flood victims. However, the two were unable to meet.
Ti added by chance, Wee had bumped into DAP deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo at the OUG Restaurant in Jalan Imbi and was informed that Lim and several other DAP leaders were having dinner there.
Wee later took the opportunity to meet Lim there as a matter of courtesy, he added.
"During their conversation, Wee had gestured to Lim about how "big" he was that he could not even acknowledge a call from a minister who tried to contact him several times and only responded with a single missed call.
"This is the meeting which was recorded and then misinterpreted by unscrupulous parties to say that the MCA and DAP were working together," he said.