Naib Ketua Pemuda MCA: Siapa dia Ling Hee Leong

Akhbar-akhbar tempatan hari ini melaporkan keputusan pemilihan peringkat Pemuda dan Wanita MCA, salah sebuah parti kaum Cina yang tertua dalam negara.

Bagi jawatan Naib Ketua Pemuda MCA, Ling Hee Leong 36 tahun, telah memperolehi 690 undi mengalahkan tiga pencabarnya yang lain. Hee Leong adalah anak kepada bekas Presiden MCA Ling Liong Sik. Malah dalam pemilihan semalam bukan sekadar Hee Leong sahaja yang berjaya, adiknya Hee keat turut berjaya bagi jawatan EXCO Pemuda MCA.



Soalnya siapakah dia Hee Leong ini selain anak kepada Liong Sik?

Walaupun baru berusia 36 tahun akan tetapi Hee Leong sebenarnya terpalit dengan skandal rasuah yang masih belum dibersihkan oleh pihak BPR. Menurut rekod Ketua Pembangkang Lim Kit Siang pernah membuat satu laporan kepada BPR berhubung dakwaan bahawa Hee Leong memiliki saham korporat bernilai lebih RM1.2 billion dengan menggunakan pengaruh bapanya yang ketika itu menteri kabinet dan Presdien MCA.

Laporan ini dibuat di awal tahun 2000 dengan diikuti laporan kedua pada tahun 2002 di Balai Polis Dang Wangi. Malangnya sehingga kini kes ini masih belum dimaklumkan kepada umum lagi.

Selain itu beberapa laporan media sebelum ini mencatatkan yang putera sulong Liong Sik ini telah menceburkan diri dalam perniagaan dan menjadi jutawan luarbiasa dalam usia yang sangat muda, ketika bapanya masih seorang menteri cabinet. Berikut antara beberapa artikel yang diperolehi:

RED BOX: Discovers major shareholder had bailed out Singapore BusinessTimes reports Red Box has just discovered that major shareholder Ling Hee Leong eldest son of Malaysian Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik had bailed out of the cash-strapped company in June.

In a notice to the stock exchange on Monday, Red Box said Stellar Links, controlled by Hee Leong, had sold its entire interest of 6.55 million shares or 10.08 per cent. The company did not give any reason for the disposal or the price of the transaction. An associate of Mr Ling told BT that the privately-held Stellar Links may have cashed out of Red Box in the middle of this year when Mr Ling resigned as deputy chairman in May.

The resignation took place about two months after Malayan Banking served Red Box with a winding-up petition. According to Red Box, the Maybank petition had claimed that it was unable to repay borrowings of 8.4 million Malaysian ringgit (S$3.4 million).

Red Box had guaranteed another RM5 million owed by its Singapore-based subsidiary. However, Red Box said the debt arose from the bank's decision to terminate all its credit facilities to the company. In a separate statement yesterday, Red Box said Maybank has accepted its alternative debt repayment scheme, and has agreed to withdraw the winding-up petition and other legal proceedings.

The 28-year-old Mr Ling emerged as a substantial shareholder in Red Box in 1996. Red Box manufactures photo albums and owns a string of spas and resorts.

ASIAWEEK Week of February 7, 1997

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees
Malaysia's business circles are abuzz over the recent corporate purchases - notably of engineering firm Promet - by Ling Hee Leong, son of transport minister and Malaysian Chinese Association leader Ling Liong Sik. Businessman Soh Chee Wen is suspected to have sold Promet to Ling Jr. as a way of thanking the elder Ling for appointing him to the MCA executive committee.

But the question remains: Where did the 27-year-old get the money to make the $480-million acquisitions? Some speculate that he may be a frontman for tycoons Tan Koon Swan and Lee San Choon, both former MCA presidents. Ling Jr. simply says he got the money from bank loans. Grassroots partymen aren't convinced, and word is that even Dad is perturbed by the negative vibes from the corporate forays.

Bayangkan masadepan negara ditangan orang-orang seperti ini kelak.