"Slept On The Wooden Floor, No Pillow, No Mattress" - LGE Recounts His Night In Lock-Up
Lim recounted his experience after his wife, Betty Chew, was detained by MACC. He shared a couple of photos of him hugging his wife, with a caption that read: "Adversity shall make our love stronger."
By Sadho Ram — 08 Aug 2020, 02:53 PM
Lim Guan Eng says he had to sleep on the wooden floor in the lock-up of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya where he was detained on the night of Thursday, 6 August
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) politician, who is a three-term Member of the Parliament (MP) and has served as the Penang chief minister between 2008 and 2018, has been charged for allegedly soliciting a bribe from a company that was awarded a multi-billion Penang undersea tunnel project in 2011.
Prior to being charged on 7 August, Lim was locked-up for a night by the anti-graft agency.
Recounting his experience in three different languages, the former finance minister took to his official Facebook account to say that he "had to change into the SPRM (MACC) orange T-shirt".
"Slept on the wooden floor in the small lock-up (no pillow, no mattresses)," he wrote, claiming that his experience was unlike his predecessor Najib Razak who did not spend a single night in the lock-up.
"Whether this is double-standards or not, only MACC can answer," he alleged.
Lim's Facebook post came after his wife, Betty Chew, was detained by MACC on Friday, 7 August, "even though she had nothing to do with the tunnel project or government matters".
She will be charged at the Butterworth Sessions Court on 11 August under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), according to her lawyer Lee Khai, who said that Betty is being investigated for alleged involvement with a private company.
Lim took to his Twitter to post a couple of photos of him hugging his wife, who appeared emotional, with a caption that read: "Adversity shall make our love stronger."
The Bagan member of the Parliament (MP) said that he was upset when he heard that his wife had been arrested by the anti-graft agency
According to the post, he was relieved when Betty was released.
"Really concerned that she would need to spend a night in the MACC lock-up like me," he wrote.
The 59-year-old accused the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government of knowing "how to hit you where you helplessly hurt most"
"PN going after me with baseless charges is to be expected. After all this unelected government needs to reinforce their (sic) slim parliamentary majority," Lim wrote.
"But to go for my wife, who even though a lawyer, does not enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, shows that they know how to hit you where you helplessly hurt most!"
The Facebook post touched a chord with netizens. At the time of writing this SAYS story, the post has over 85,000 reactions, more than 23,000 comments, and over 11,000 shares.
Meanwhile, on the issue about Najib in a lock-up, the former prime minister, who is now convicted criminal, yesterday claimed that he spent two nights in the MACC lock-up when he was detained
"Saya pun duduk lokap SPRM dua malam masa saya didakwa," Najib wrote on his Facebook post.
However, his latest claim contradicts his previous proclamation on 21 September 2018, during which he had said that he did not spend a night in the lock-up before he was brought to the court to be charged.
"I was not in the lock-up. I was in the MACC building."
